after spartoi, next generation
by werepirechick
Summary: death city has been quiet for the last few years, but now a new generation has come to rock it to it's roots. with a feisty main character with power to match, this new generation is going to be even more chaotic than the previous!
1. Prologue

Okay, this is my first fanfiction ever, so I want you readers to be kind to me even if it's a crappy story. Please enjoy the first chapter! :3

"_Ahhhhhh!" A boy screamed out in pain. His hand bleeding heavily as he stumbled back from his attacker._

"_Someone call the teacher!"_

"_Stop the bleeding!"_

"_Get that girl away from him!"_

_It was chaos as the school staff tried to deal with the frightened children and aid the wounded boy. His attacker, a little girl with stark white hair, held up her newly weaponized hand. The end red with the boy's blood._

"_I…I didn't mean it!" she cried shaking from head to toe. "He was making fun of-"_

"_Shut up monster!" a girl cried out from the other side of the room. Other children began to join in._

"_Monster! Monster!"_

"_Demon girl!"_

"_Go away!"_

"_But I didn't mean it," the little girl cried. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes now. A flash of white surround her blade hand and it changed back to a small child's. The blade was gone, but the blood was not. The little girl shook even more as she saw the blood ooze down her fingers, splattering onto her pink dress. She opened her mouth and screamed with all her might._

**NINE YEARS LATER**

It was hot and sunny just as it always was in Death City. The sun beat down hot rays as the citizens went about their usual day. A dog was wandering around, having escaped from its owner. It came up to a railing in the middle of a stair case. With a wicked gleam in it's eye it lifted it's leg and got ready to relieve itself. Suddenly a skater came barreling around the corner.

"Outa my way pooch!" the skater yelled. The skater hopped up onto the railing and did a grind downwards; scaring the dog out of his wits. The skater touched down and sped away laughing, her long white hair streaming behind her. Music pounded in her ears as she rode down the boulevard. Her goal was just a few blocks away, and she had no time to spare. The bell for her new school was about to ring.

She turned a corner and shot past someone. She didn't really notice, but that person was staring right at her as she whizzed by.

A boy walked up the street, aiming to find his way to Shibusen academy. He'd arrived only the night before and hadn't had a chance to learn how to actually get to his new school.

He sighed, why had he come here? It wasn't going to keep his parents at bay for very long. There wasn't really any point to him being here, he'd simply wanted to get away from his stifling house and family. Course his freedom wasn't going to last long, they'd find one reason or another to drag him back eventually. He was continuing to lament about his life when he heard a shout from around the corner. I turned his head just in time to see a white haired girl come around the corner at top speed on a skate board.

Time slowed as she past him, she had pale skin and sharp teeth, which only added to her strange appearance. Her eye were focused a set forwards, as well as a deep brown. She didn't even seem to acknowledge his presence as she went by. This lasted only a split second before she disappeared as quickly as had appeared. He stared after her with bewildered blue eyes, not knowing what to really think.


	2. Chapter 1

Okay, the last chapter wasn't really a chapter, it was really more of a prologue. I promise that they're going to get longer! Later on in this I'm going to ask for OCs for both friends and villains. I appreciate you're followings and comments. Now on with chapter one! (Technically)

The final bell rang as the teacher finished taking attendance.

"All right, settle down," Sid called around. "Please listen, i am now going to explain what will happening in you're life for the next year."

The class quieted down as he shut the door of the class room.

"You are the fresh men of Shibusen, the DWMA. For the next year you all be trained in the "NOT" class with you're chosen partner. This will continue until you become strong enough to join the "EAT" class," Sid explained to the newest students of Shibusen.

**line break here**

The boy rounded the corner. The flower shop woman had said this was the way to the DWMA. He really hoped she was right, he was already late as it was. He came to a stop and looked up what seemed to be the biggest staircase he'd ever seen.

"You have got to be kidding me."

He looked up, craning his neck to see the top of ginormous set of steps. He sighed and began up the stairs, the sun beating down on him. It took what seemed like hours to finally reach the top; the sun mocking him, laughing, all the way. He crawled over the final step and promptly collapsed. He lay the huffing and puffing on his back, wishing that there had been an easier way up.

"Hey, you okay?"

The boy opened his eyes and was met with a stare from a middle aged woman.

"Yeah, I'll be fine as soon as i can breath again," he wheezed back.

"Hmmmm, i am guessing that was your first time climbing the stair way,"

"Yup," he replied getting slowly to his feet. Now that he was standing again, he saw he was much taller than the woman before him. "My name is Jamie, I'm a freshmen here."

"Yes, yes, i can tell exactly who you are," the woman replied. "I am in charge of making sure the new students make into the school. Many quit half way up the way here, and i end up having to go and get them myself. I'm actually impressed you made it up by yourself."

"Thanks, um... could you maybe tell me where I'm supposed to go?"

"Sure, follow me please,"

Jamie followed the woman through the impressive door to the school, enjoying the odd architecture. They moved quickly through the halls, passing many other students and staff on the way. Jamie looked at every one them with interest. He saw people speaking to weapons and inanimate objects, and then, with a bit of shock, saw the weapons and objects speak back. Suddenly woman stopped, at a poster.

"Here, follow these sign and it'll lead you right to the freshmen class."

Jamie peered at the poster, it said "Freshmen Come This way!" the slightly comical figure of lord death pointing the way.

"Thanks again for you're help miss..." Jamie turned around to thank the woman, but she was already gone. Jamie shrugged, he figured this was just how the school worked. He turned back to the cheerful signs.

"Okay, lead the way," he said to the signs. Following the odd posters, he made his way to his new class.

**line break**

Jamie came to the last sign, a cardboard cut-out of lord death pointing to some double doors. He sighed to himself; this wasn't going to be easy. He was more than an hour late for the class; would he get kicked out for being so late?

He knocked on the door, fearful of what would happen next. The door opened slowly to reveal an odd looking man. His skin was a blue tone, and he was much taller than Jamie.

"Um… I'm here for the freshmen class, I would have been here earlier, but I got lost," Jamie rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry for being late."

"That's okay, most teachers would be mad, but that isn't the kind of man I am," the odd man replied. "My name is Sid; I'll be your instructor for the next few days. Please come in."

Jamie followed Sid inside to the class room. There were roughly about 20 students.

"What's your name? I need to sign you in and you need your name tag," Sid said picking up the attendance sheet.

"My name is Jamie, sir"

"Jamie… Jamie… ah here you are. Your name is Jamie Vin-"

"I rather my full name didn't come up," Jamie cut Sid off quickly. _'Close call'_

"Okay, I'm cool with that," Sid said shrugging. "Are you a weapon or a meister?"

"I'm a meister,"

"All right, here's your ID and name tag," Sid said handing him a name tag with "MEISTER" written on it, and his name printed in small letters on the bottom.

'_Guess what you are,is more important than who you are,' _Jamie chuckled to himself. "So who's do I partner with,"

"Jamie, unfortunately all of the available weapons have been taken already," Sid explained. "You got here too late,"

Suddenly the double doors of the classroom burst open and the albino girl from earlier walked in. She cracked her knuckles and stalked in. Bruises were visible on her arms and on her cheek.

"Sorry I'm late," she said with a glare, throwing her hips to the side. "I got held up."

Was this chapter good? I know the chapter was short, but I have homework to balance as well as this fanfiction. Please leave your comments and reviews. And thank you to those who've followed my story, you've made me happy. :3

I will up date soon!


	3. Chapter 2

It took a while, but here's chapter two! I decided to really work at this one so i could make this one longer than the others. With the end of the year coming, I'll be able to write as much as i please. Please enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading.

(i realize i haven't been putting in a disclaimer)

DISCLAIMER, i do not own any of Atsushi Ohkubo's characters, but my original ones are mine and mine alone.

"Esmeralda Eater, our final freshman," Sid said. "Why can't you enter quietly? Our doors can't take this much longer."

"Didn't feel like," Esmeralda replied, flicking her long tresses over her shoulder.

Sid sighed. This was going to be a long year. "Okay, I'll let it slide that your late for today, but try to be on time tomorrow. Since your the last weapon available you'll pairing with Jamie here."

Esmeralda studied Jamie from head to toe. "Hmmmm... little on the skinny side isn't he?"

"Nice to meet you too Esmeralda," Jamie replied politely as he could.

"Call me Emmie," She stated. "I don't like being called my full name, it's too long."

Sid came over and dropped a name tag into Emmie's hand. "Here, at least wear this."

Emmie huffed, but put it regardless. She didn't really think it was necessary for her, everyone around here already knew who she was. Ignoring Jamie she went and sat down in a desk in the far back, leaned back and plugged in her head phones.

Sid coughed. "Moving on, the history of DWMA is long and well known. You are the next generation of weapons and meisters that will protect the world from Kishins. A Kishin is soul that has turned evil..."

Jamie only half listened to what Sid was saying, he mostly kept looking back at his new partner. She had now put her head down and sleeping on her desk. Jamie stared at her bruises and cuts along her arms.

_'Wonder how she got those...'_

No one else interrupted the class until the lunch bell rang.

**line break**

"**ding dong, dead dong" **the bell tolled throughout the school, signalling the end of morning period.

Jamie got up and stretched, desk can start to cramp up your back after a while. Emmie stirred in her desk; she sat up blinking sleepily.

_'Geez, why did Sid even make me come? I already knew all that stuff,' _Emmie yawned. Anything Sid had talked about in class was nothing new to her. Having practically _lived_ in Shibusen all her live, she knew just about everything about the school.

A shadow suddenly appeared over her. She looked and saw it was Jamie.

"Can i help you?" she asked.

"Um, i just wondering what happens now. Were partners and all so i thought maybe we'd go and have some lu-"

"We don't have to do that just yet," Emmie cut him off. "We just need attend class together. No reason for anything else."

"But we really should get to know each other, how else are we going to be successful?"

"Dunno, maybe you could try working out first," Emmie said poking at Jamie's arms. "I'm already three times stronger than you are, so I'm going to have to wait until you catch up."

"Well it is just the first day we could start that la-"

"Whatever, you can figure that out on your own, I'm leaving," Emmie got up and walked out the classroom. Jamie stood there for a moment before running after her.

He came out into the hall and saw Emmie slip around a corner.

_'she's not getting away that easy'_ Jamie ran after her. He rounded the corner and saw her standing in front of three other male students.

"So what? What do mean so what!?" the middle student said. He was a stockily built guy, with a deep set frown on his face.

"Yeah! You can't just blow us off after we've challenged you!" exclaimed the student on the right.

"You know the rules! When someone challenges you, you gotta fight 'em!" the third yelled.

"Look, I'd be happy to pound you into the ground later, but I'm hungry right now so leave me alone okay?" Emmie said haughtily, a mocking smirk playing across her lips.

The middle student leaned in close. "You chicken?"

"Tch, as if loser!"

"Then accept the challenge!"

Emmie glared up at the student. Her smirk widened, showing off some impressively sharp, shark like teeth. "Bring. it. on."

"No way!" shouted the students who'd gathered around the quarrel.

"The white demon is going to fight!?"

"those guys don't stand a chance!"

"Beat her down!"

Emmie lead the way outside, and the huge crowd followed her. She walked out the doors to the front of the school. The challengers took their place on the other side of the court yard and Emmie walked slowly to her side.

"All right! I've always wanted to fight you white demon! Now that your an official student, i can destroy you without any problems!" the stocky student grinned. "Okay guys! Transform!"

A light engulfed the two other students and they disappeared. The light twirled in the air for a moment and then landed in the stocky boy's hands. The light dispersed, revealing a dagger and a hunting knife.

"Hmmm... gotta say, you guys aren't considering. It takes some talent to synchronize two weapons at once," Emmie remarked cooly. She eyed the newly transformed weapons with a bored stare. They weren't that much of a threat. The miester's stance was sloppy and the his form was bad. It showed he may have some skill, but not much. "Alright, let's get this over with,"

Mean while, Jamie was fighting to see over the wall of student observers. Suddenly the student in front of him reeled back, causing him to lose his balance and fall over. He looked up just in time to see Emmie's hands flash a bright light. Her fingers elongated and became sharp. She raised one had up as the bright light faded. Her hands were now equipped with green and black scythe blades. They gleamed dangerously in the mid day sun.

"Now boys, let's dance," She said as she dashed towards the challenging student. He was barely able to block as Emmie's blades hacked at him. Jamie stared opened mouthed as he watch his partner battle.

Emmie swung her bladed hands towards the student as he desperately tried to parry her ferocious attacks. He swung low in an effort to catch her in the stomach, but Emmie jumped backwards before the blade could get her.

He lunged again, but Emmie dodged and came around from the back. Her leg shot out and kicked him from behind, landing a solid hit on his lower back.

The stocky guy was shaken, but not out. He turned and made a slash with both the dagger and hunting knife. The crowd cheered as the two clashed over and over and over again.

"Guess the White demon isn't as good as they say, huh," someone remarked from behind Jamie.

"No kidding! This guy has got her beat!"

_'No, their wrong. She's just playing with him,"_ Jamie thought to himself. He'd been watching Emmie's movements, she hadn't shown any sign of going all out yet. She'd barely even shown a little bit of her power.

_'This is gettin__g soooooo tedious,' _Emmie thought as she did another dodge. This guy wasn't very good at combat, he may have potential, but he'd yet to train enough to bring it out. It was time to end this. Her brown eyes now glowed with determination as she switched into fight mode. She delivered a glancing blow to the guys side and followed up with another kick, this time in his stomach. The stocky student flew backwards and hit the railing of the court yard. He looked up and saw Emmie jump high into the air, her leg poised in a drop kick position. He screamed as she came flying towards her. He dropped his weapons and held his hands up to protect his face.

Emmei's kick landed on the railing, missing his head by inches. The stone railing crumpled and fell away.

Emmie lifted leg up and shook the white dust off her foot.

"Tch, not cool. Losing when you were the one who challenged me," She said disappointed. She'd thought he would have put up more a fight. She relinquished her blades and walked away from her now passed out challenger.

The crowd parted as she stalked through, a bored look played across her face. As she past Jamie she looked him straight in the eyes.

"See what i mean? It's going to take a lot more than you getting to know me before your ready to be _my _partner."

The crowd went ballistic at this, they hadn't known that the white demon now had a partner! Excited chatter and scared/impressed comments followed Emmie as she disappeared back inside the school building.

"Ha ha ha ha! just like Emmie to make a scene on the first day!" A loud obnoxious voice yelled from behind Jamie. Jamie turned around and bumped into a well muscled man. There was something odd about this man to Jamie, he looked at the laughing man for another second before figuring it out. The man had _blue hair_.

"So!" said the bluenette, slapping Jamie hard on the back. A wide grin spread across his face. "Your the sorry sport who got paired up with Emmie huh?"

"Blackstar! Don't say that!" a Japanese woman exclaimed from behind him. "Emmie is a wonderful person to be paired with! Don't go filling this boy's head with the wrong ideas."

"Aw, come on Tsubaki, i was only kidding," Blackstar whined back. "This seems kinda too skinny to her partner though, i thought she would have been paired up someone stronger."

"Your not the first to say that about me," Jamie said wryly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Emmie will warm up to you soon enough," Tsubaki said kindly. Patting Jamie's shoulder.

"Um... if you don't mind me asking, how do you two know her?"

"Well, we've known her ever since she was born," Tsubaki explained.

"Yeah! And we helped take care of her!" Blackstar added. "Especially since her parents moved away."

"Huh? Why would her parents move away?"

"Her parents are one of the death scythe pairs. They had to move for their job when she was nine," Tsubaki said. "It doesn't mean they wanted to leave her, it's just that their job is too dangerous for Emmie to along for."

"Well, I'm hungry! Let's go eat Tsubaki!" Blackstar said loudly. He turned and marched away, heading in to get some food from the cafeteria.

"Coming Blackstar," Tsubaki called after him. She looked back at Jamie. "Would you like to come as well?"

"Sure, i could use some lunch," He replied. After this morning, he'd worked up quite an appetite.

**line break**

Jamie lay on his bed, thinking about the days events. Emmie hadn't talked to him for the rest of the day, she hadn't even looked at him. Jamie rubbed his temples, it wasn't going to be an easy job getting along as a partner with her. But he'd at least learned about some of her past from Blackstar and Tsubaki. She lived by herself here in town and had been technically attending DWMA for most of her school life. She'd become an official student today.

FLASH BACK

"She could have become an EAT class weapon a long time ago, but she didn't want to without a partner," Tsubaki had told him. She'd apparently activated her weapon gene when she was very young. She'd been training every since to be the best she could be.

"How come people were calling her the "White Demon"?" Jamie had enquired.

Blackstar's face had darkened at this. "It's some street name people gave her a long time ago. I don't like it, but Emmie insists it's fine."

"Why would they call her that?"

"You'll have to ask her yourself," Tsubaki replied, sipping her green tea.

END FLASH BACK

Jamie rolled over and grabbed the piece of paper that had Emmie's address on it. Tsubaki had been kind enough to give it to him, undoubtedly hoping he'd go see her.

_'Nothing else t__o do,'_ Jamie thought to himself as he got up to leave. He was staying in a medium sized apartment his parents had purchased for him; he didn't really like it, but he also didn't really mind. As long as it kept his parents off his back, he was happy to here. Though it was too spacious for one person in his opinion.

Jamie walked out onto the streets of Death city. He looked at the piece of paper in his hands, and began asking around about how to get there. It took about and hour or so to reach the place, but he finally found Emmie's apartment building. The building itself was oddly, but the majority of houses in Death city were odd.

Jamie stood there wondering about how she was going to react to him showing with an invitation.

_'Let's hope Tsubaki was right __about Emmie warming up to me,' _he thought as he reach for the handle and entered the building.

Ta da! Chapter two is finished! I hope you enjoyed this one. (i think i have writing fever or something, i couldn't stop typing!) please stay tuned for more chapters next week, i really like writing this story! :3


	4. Chapter 3

Aaaannnndddd here's the next chapter of after spartoi! (i decided to shorten the name when i talk about it 'cause the full name is a mouth full.) what do you guys think of Emmie and Jamie? Are they good main characters? I wanted to make a badass female character and a male partner that was mostly level headed. I hope you've enjoyed it so far.

**disclaimer: i have no ownership rights on soul eater, but i wish i did!**

Jamie climbed the stairs of the apartment Emmie was supposed to be living in. He was mulling over what he would say to her, that is if she would even talk to him; she'd made it pretty clear that she didn't have any real respect for him. He reached the floor she lived on, and walked to her door number.

He stood in front of it and tried to find the courage to open it. Nervously, he raised his hand to knock on the door. It suddenly opened, and a women in a purple skin tight dress stepped out. Of course, it was just in time for his hand to smack right into her very large chest.

The women looked down at his now frozen hand. "You know little boy, your a bit young to be doing that."

Jamie ripped his hand away, blushing profusely. He quickly began apologizing to her. "I-, I'm very s-sorry! I-I-I didn't mean to d-do th-that miss! I was just l-looking for my friends home!"

"Aunty Blair! What's going on out there~?" Emmie's voice came from inside the apartment. She came into view, she was wearing black pyjama pants and a white shirt with a kanji stating "Music for life!" She looked very attractive.

"I was just explaining to this little boy that he's to young to go about grabbing my boobs," Blair relied, pointing at a now even _more _flushed Jamie. Emmie glared daggers at him

"But i didn't mean to! I swear!" Jamie explained frantically. He really didn't like being in this situation, not at all!

"Why are you here? How did you find out my address?" Emmie said accusingly. "Are you stalking me?"

"What? No i- i mean-," Jamie struggled to find the right words. "I would never do that!"

Emmie huffed. "So who told you then?"

"It was Tsubaki and Blackstar. I'm sorry if you didn't want me to come here," he looked up sheepishly, but determination was in his eyes. "But we... no... i need to get to know you better. If were going to be partners i need to know more about you."

Emmie was impressed. This guy had barely known her for a day and had seen how terrifying she could be in a fight, and yet he had gone through the trouble of tracking her down to try and get to know her. She cocked an eyebrow, and swung her hips to the side with her arms crossed; her signature pose. She would at least give him a reward for the trouble he'd gone through; plus it didn't seem like he was going any where soon without her agreement. "Fine, give me ten minutes and then we'll go out for coffee."

Jamie's face brightened at this. "Great! I'll be waiting downstairs-"

"Uh, Uh, your coming in here! I wanna know just what's going on!" Blair interjected. She began tugging Jamie inside. "I haven't heard anything about who Em-chan's partner is."

"Aunty Blair! I don't want him to come in-" Emmie tried to stop the purple woman from dragging in her partner, but Blair would have none of it.

"Oh, don't be so mean to him, he came all this way. You could at least let him sit down while you get ready,"

A moment later, Jamie found himself sitting in Emmie's living room with the large breasted women, who was getting to close for comfort.

"Sooooo..." she purred scooting closer still. "How did you two meet exactly?"

"Well... she doesn't know this, but we met before class started, where we were paired up. I was late and lost, and i just kinda saw her, or at least a blur of her," Jamie explained. "She almost hit me with her skate board."

"That sounds just like Emmie," Blair laughed. "You know, this is where her parents lived when they were your age; i lived her to of course, i was their pet!"

Jamie leaned even further away from Blair. _'Their _pet_?!'_

"Aunty Blair! Quit giving people the wrong impression about my parents!" Emmie called from down the hall. "I don't need anyone else thinking my parents are perverts!"

"What do you mean by "Their pet"?" Jamie asked.

"Oh! Here, I'll show you!" An explosion of purple smoke surrounded Blair. Jamie coughed, trying to get his vision back. When he could finally see again he looked down to see a purple cat with a black hat on.

"Uh... what?" he finally said, finding his voice again.

"It's like it looks, I'm a cat!" The now feline Blair stated. She hopped onto Jamie's lap. "I happen to have a really huge amount of magic power, which let's me be human sometimes."

Blair suddenly changed back and Emmie came around the corner, now dressed in blue jeans and a black band shirt, just in time to see her Aunt sitting, or rather squishing, her partner under her body.

"Your done already Em-Chan?"

Emmie glared hard at the cat women. "Get. Off. Of. Him. Now."

"Fine~," Blair said, getting up off of Jamie. "I have to go to work anyway. See you later!"

Blair bounded out the door, leaving the two of them alone.

"Sorry about her," Emmie said pulling Jamie off the floor, his legs had buckled from relief. "She's always like that."

"She said she lived with your parents, how did your dad survive?!" Jamie said breathless.

"I'm not really sure," Emmie said shaking her head. "Come on, let's go get some food."

"Yeah, that's sounds great," Jamie replied as they left her apartment.

"Your treating though."

**line break**

"All right, I'm here. Now what do you want to know?" Emmie blew on her steaming coffee. They were sitting in the popular cafe named "Death Bucks". "I don't want to have come here for nothing, you know."

"Right, well... for starters you could tell me about your family life i guess," Jamie asked, sipping his Italian soft drink.

Emmie paused for a moment, she had hoped he wouldn't ask this question yet. "My mom and dad are the top Weapon and Meister pair at the moment, their names are Maka Albarn and Soul Eater. They're stationed some where in Europe right now."

"Really?" Jamie said surprised. He hadn't expected this. "So is that why they moved away?"

"Who told you that!?"

"Blackstar and Tsubaki," Jamie said holding his hands up. "I didn't know it was a touchy subject."

"It is, so i won't be elaborating anymore."

"So, moving away from that... what's your favourite thing to do?"

"I like music, love it actually. I play music and listen to it when ever i can; it's my favourite thing next to combat practice," Emmie was visibly happy, talking about music. "I grew up listening to my dad play the piano for my mom and me. So i took an interest in it, and now i play just about every instrument i come across."

"Wow, i can't play anything except the violin."

Emmie laughed, her shark teeth showing. It was nice when she smiling. Much better than when she was glaring at him.

"I'll go get us some refills," He said standing up. Emmie nodded, handing him her cup. He walked over to the counter, and asked the bar tender for some more of their drink orders. As he was coming back he saw Emmie had left their table.

He set down the drinks disappointed. She'd left when he wasn't looking.

As he stared out the window, he noticed her walking away with some older teens. He dumped a twenty on the table and ran after her.

**line break**

"What do you want?" Emmie asked. She wasn't happy about being dragged away from her discussion with Jamie. She also didn't feel good about leaving him hanging, without any explanation. "I was in the middle of something."

"Nothing much," one the eight teens replied. He wore a hat over his eye and greasy blond hair. "We're just here to give you pay back for when you attacked our gang head."

"That's wrong, he's the one who me and i have no reason to be here," Emmie tried to turn and leave, but the other seven gang members blocked her path.

"Your not going anywhere till we say," Greasy hair said angrily.

"Tch, this is completely uncool. Assaulting a young, innocent girl in a back alley," Emmie said mockingly. "Talk about stereotypical."

The grease hair teen yelled and charged at Emmie. She simply moved to the side and tripped him as he went by. He stumbled into his friends, they pushed him back up and into the fight.

"I'm not supposed to beat up civilians, but i can make an exception for you guys," Emmie said dangerously with a smirk. The all rushed her at once, pulling knives and tazers from their pockets. She dodged most, but the last one caught her off guard, he'd hid behind one of his friends and gotten her from her blind spot. His knife made contact with her side, breaking the skin, but to deep.

Emmie gritted her teeth and swung her fist into his face, knocking him out. The others were coming again, she turned and did a round house kick to the temple of one, then punched another in the gut. They both sank to the ground. She turned her attention to the other six. Three began pushing her towards the wall, they were trying to pin her down.

She activated her blades, she didn't have a choice at this point. She jumped high into the air, up and over the oncoming attacks. They turned to face her, but not fast enough. With a quick slice, her blades through each of them with ease. Their belts that is. The pants of the three boys fell to the ground in the most unmanly manner. They all tried to pull them back up and fight again, but Emmie slammed their heads together. They all collapsed to the ground.

Emmie turned to face the last one. He whimpered and ran, dropping his knife. Emmie sighed in relief, now she could finally leave and explain to Jamie.

_'Course he m__ay not be there anymore,' _Emmie thought to herself. She hadn't really wanted to be there, but that didn't mean hadn't any issues with leaving him there alone. She turned to leave, not noticing the shadow behind her raising it's weapon.

"**Emmie look out!"** A voice called out. There was a thunk sound and Emmie turned to see the Greasy haired teen she'd forgotten in the fight crumple to the ground, a large bump forming on his head. Jamie stood there, panting with a metal pole in his hands. In panic, he'd struck the teen gang member over the head to protect Emmie.

"I'm glad your okay," Jamie said his hands shaking a little. The impact of the pole hitting the teens skull had jarred him along his arms. "Are these guys going to be okay? Plus, won't we get in trouble for this?"

Emmie stood there trying to find words, her partner had stuck for her without knowing what was going on. She finally found her voice, and began yelling. "What in death's name possessed you to fight!? You've had no training at all! You could have gotten yourself hurt, you baka!"

Jamie dropped the pole onto the ground, he looked sheepish. "Sorry, but couldn't let you fight by yourself."

"Well then you should have been here at the beginning of the fight!" Emmie huffed, she turned and began walking away. Jamie groaned, what was it going to take to win her over?

Emmie muttered something.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"I said thanks for having my back!" She barked at him. "Happy?"

Jamie smiled. "Very."

Emmie continued walking, but let herself smile just a little bit. _'Maybe he's not so bad.'_

And there we go, end of the chapter. I hope you liked it. (i enjoyed it)

i realized late last night that Jamie and Emmie kinda rhyme. Oh well, i like 'em. Please favourite and follow! I will up date later this week!


	5. Chapter 4

Hmmmm... seems like i have more time to up date than i thought. Or i just write really fast. (i think it's both) i love the comments you people have been leaving me, please continue to read After Spartoi!

Jamie huffed as he ran around the school track for the fifth time, it had been two weeks since he and Emmie had been partnered up and she'd put him into a strict training program; to toughen him up apparently. True he wasn't battle ready, but they were in the NOT class, not the EAT class. But he complied none the less, he was the meister and he needed to be a lot stronger if they were going to succeed.

"Come on! I ran faster when i was in junior high!" Emmie was running as well, but a lot faster than him. She'd lapped him twice already. It was a little humiliating considering he was the meister, the one was meant to be more fit.

"I'm running as fast as i can!" Jamie gasped. "I haven't exactly been training all my life!"

"Quit whining and get running!"

This went on for another ten minutes before Sid finally stopped them, insisting that Jamie should have a rest. Emmie said she'd keep running.

Jamie sat with Sid on a bench, he watched his partner run with barely a sweat.

"How does she do that?" Jamie suddenly said.

"How does she do what?" Sid asked.

"How does she keep going? Why does she? I mean, I'm here now; she doesn't need to do that."

"Well... it's just how she's been for a while now," Sid replied. "You don't know anything about her do you?"

Jamie shook her head. "She hasn't told me anything, only about herself now."

"You should probably ask her some time in the near future, a meister and a weapon should know each other well. But you should open up to her some more as well. I can tell that you haven't been exactly elaborated about yourself either."

Jamie stared at Sid. "You know?"

Sid nodded. "I looked up your registration form, your family is pretty famous huh?"

"Yeah," Jamie said flatly. "It's not exactly nice. You won't tell anyone?"

"That's not the kind of man i am, or was."

They sat in silence until Emmie came to collect Jamie for lunch.

**line break**

"Your buying today," Emmie stated as they got in line. Today's special was beef udon, Emmie had eye on it.

"But i bought the food yesterday."

"Yeah, and now your buying it again."

Jamie sighed and pulled out his wallet. He was hungry and exhausted, he didn't really want to fight over who bought lunch or not. They picked up two udons, paid, and moved towards a table in the back. As they sat down, Emmie began to drool a little. She very hungry.

"Your drooling."

Emmie quickly wiped away the drool, scowling.

"Itadakimasu!" she said and dug in, trying to ignore her mess up. Jamie politely went along in the ignoring.

Jamie looked around and noticed people avoided their table like the plague. "How come everyone is avoiding us?"

"Not us, me. People around here don't like me to much," Emmie replied through a mouthful of noodles. "It's been that for a while."

"I see no reason to not," Jamie said sipping the broth of his udon.

Emmie blushed a little, she lifted up the bowl and swallowed the rest of her udon in one gulp. "That was great, I'm gonna leavenowsobye!"

Emmie vanished before the bowl she'd slammed down could stop spinning. All Jamie caught was a white blur of her speeding out the Cafeteria doors.

"Hey! Did she leave you hanging again?"

Jamie turned his head around and saw Blackstar and Tsubaki standing behind him.

"Hello again," he replied.

"It's nice to see that she'll at least eat lunch with you now," Tsubaki said sitting down. "I'm impressed you've gotten this far with her."

"Heh, yeah she'll eat lunch with me as well as work me to the bone with training."

"That's nothing to what i did when i was your age!" Blackstar yelled. "I was a star among those other puny meister, thy could never compare to a big man such as myself!"

"Blackstar! Sit down! Were in public!" Tsubaki cried in a yell whisper. Blackstar thankfully sat down, but everyone was still staring.

Jamie coughed. "So, I've meaning to ask this, but do you two work here?"

"Yes, we teach the EAT class of class crescent moon," Tsubaki said.

"She does the boring stuff," Blackstar said gesturing to Tsubaki. "I teach combat and self defence."

"Huh, maybe me and Emmie will be in that class when we move up."

"You have a long way to go before that skinny!" Blackstar laughed heartily at Jamie, who slouched down as far as he could.

"Blackstar!" Tsubaki said, whacking him on the shoulder. "Enough of making fun of Jamie, go and get us some food."

Blackstar headed for the Food line, laughing all the way.

"I wish people would stop saying I'm skinny," Jamie muttered dejectedly.

Tsubaki smiled and tried to comfort him. "It's okay, your fairly normal. It's just that normal around here is skinny."

"Makes sense," Jamie agreed as he watched some buff students walk by with their partners. A thought occurred to him suddenly. "Hey, which one of you is the weapon?"

"I am," Tsubaki said. "I'm a shadow weapon, it means i have a bunch of different forms. I can change into a chain scythe, a smoke bomb, a ninja sword, and some others too."

"Cool," Jamie thought for a moment then continued. "Now that i think about it, i haven't seen Emmie's full weapon form yet."

"Really?"

"Yeah, i should probably get on that."

Tsubaki sighed. This was just like Emmie, stringing this poor boy along. "Well, it isn't terribly surprising. She doesn't exactly show it off much. I haven't seen it for quite a while myself."

Blackstar had finished with getting his a Tsubaki lunch, his tray was piled high with almost all the food types in the cafeteria. The two of them cut off their conversation there, instead Tsubaki ate her lunch and Jamie finished his.

Hmmmm... i think i maybe have been a little hard on Jamie lately. Should i be nicer? Or should Emmie and his relationship stay the same? Dunno yet, but i want your opinions on how i wrote Blackstar and Tsubaki. (and Blair) did i write their characters correctly, or do they need to be different?

Please follow and favourite!


	6. Chapter 5

I feel the story isn't moving quickly enough lately. Am i to long winded when i write? Or is this a good speed? Please leave your opinion in the comments box!

**disclaimer, i do not own soul eater in anyway at all**

_Whack!_

Emmie hit the punching with her fist. She'd retreated to the rec room of Shibusen, trying to rearrange her thoughts. She grumbled out her frustrations as she hit it again and again. She'd been there for about an hour now, but hadn't felt any better.

"You push yourself to hard," Tsubaki said coming into the work out room.

"How'd ya know I'd be here?" Emmie asked wiping sweat from her brow.

"You always come here wen your troubled," Tsubaki smiled. "Just like how Maka would always go to the library."

"Feh," Was Emmie's reply. She sat down on the bench and Tsubaki same to sit with her.

"So what's got you worked up today?" Tsubaki asked Emmie, she pulled out an apple and began peeling it while Emmie explained herself.

She talked about how she felt about Jamie's comment during lunch, how she'd been wanting to help him get stronger, and how much she missed her parents. Tsubaki nodded to each of her explanations.

"It seems like you have a lot on your plate right now, huh?"

Emmie nodded. "It's really stressful. I want to help make us a strong team, but I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. How did my mom and dad do it?"

Tsubaki sat and thought for a moment. "Well, you know how they met right?"

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't all that easy, even after though Soul may say different. I remember that there were days when they did nothing, but disagree with each other. But they had a strong will to become the best and they got through it. Even if their fights got bad. I'm you and Jamie will figure it out eventually."

Tsubaki then placed a plate of apple bunnies on the bench, picked one up and popped it into her mouth.

"Please try and see things from both of your views, I'm sure you'll come to a conclusion." She waved good bye and walked out of the room. Emmie sat and munched on the apple bunnies for a while, thinking about Tsubaki's advice. She _had_ only been looking at things from her perspective. She hadn't really taken Jamie's thoughts into account. She'd been doing nothing, but trying to force him into a training program that would make most people run away from her.

She had been pleasantly surprised he hadn't demanded a change in partners yet.

_'Guess I've put to much pressure in him lately. It's a miracle he's put up with this.'_

**line break**

Jamie fumbled around, trying to get his bearings. The alarm was loud in his ears, insistent of the emergency. The smoke clogged his lungs, he struggled to breath. He moved quickly as he could towards the light of the windows, he had to reach them. He grabbed the window, attempting to pull it up, it was stuck. Panic rose in his throat, he pushed and pulled with everything he had; desperate to free it. It gave way and he sucked in a breath of fresh air.

The alarm continued.

"Oh shut up!" He yelled as he ran for the kitchen where his badly burned dinner awaited. He grabbed some oven mitts and pulled the smoking pot off the stove and poured it into the sink. Ruined pasta filled the sink. He stared at his pitiful attempt at cooking. The salad hadn't turned out much better, it was nothing, but badly ripped leaves and dressing.

It was official, he was the worst cook in history.

The door bell sounded, just barely loud enough to cut through the smoke alarm. Jamie moved through his smoke filled house to answer. To his great surprise, he found Emmie standing outside.

"Hey, what's with your house? You have a fire or something?" She asked coming inside. She coughed a little as the smoke caught her.

"No, not quite," Jamie said as he fought with the Smoke alarm. "I just can't cook."

Emmie watched him struggle to turn the alarm of for another minute or so before simply stabbing it with her scythe blade.

"Your welcome,"

Jamie was relieved that the harsh sounds had ceased, but was a little miffed he now had to replace his smoke alarm. Emmie walked into the kitchen and whistled, she was impressed by the amount of mess Jamie had made.

"Guess I'm eating out again," Jamie said from behind her. "Course i don't think i could have eaten anymore of my cooking anyway."

Emmie chuckled. "You really are a terrible cook aren't you? How about i take you out for dinner, my treat."

Jamie looked at her oddly. "But you never pay for anything."

"This is an exception, until you learn to cook by yourself i suppose i can hook you up for dinners."

Jamie didn't object, he'd have been happy to eat anything other his generally burnt food. He finished opening all the windows of his apartment and left with Emmie, only stopping to grab his coat.

"So where are we going?" He asked as they walked the streets of Death city.

"Just a place, it's not that fancy, but i get it free 'cause Aunty Blair works there."

"So you never had any intention of paying for my dinner?"

"Nope."

Jamie laughed a little and Emmie smiled, she was enjoying this. They reached their destination a little while later, the neon sign flashing brightly.

"Chupakabras?" Jamie read the sign aloud.

"Yep, this is the place. Come on, we have about two hours before rush hour comes and we get kicked out."

Jamie shrugged, sure the place seemed a little weird, but Emmie said it was okay so it was fine. Right?

"Welcome!" Three beautiful women cried out with bright smiles, they were standing by the door as Emmie and Jamie came inside.

"Hey Viola, Charlene, Missy, how's it going?" Emmie said causally as the smiles on them relaxed.

"Oh it's just you Emmie, who's your friend?" Viola asked, flipping her fluffy black hair over her shoulders. Charlene and Missy retreated to the back of Chupakabras. "We thought you two were customers."

"Nope, we're just here to get Jamie here some dinner; he brutalized his own."

"Jamie huh? Is he your partner?"

"Yes, I am," Jamie interjected. He hadn't really liked the fact they'd been talking like he wasn't here. "And as much as i hate to admit it, i did indeed destroy my dinner. What are the specials tonight?"

"Just hold, we'll get Blair to come out and serve you too," Viola walked away and through the kitchen doors.

Emmie went and sat down in a booth nearby, sinking into the comfortable purple cushions. Jamie followed the example. He looked around the room, there were few other customers, all men. They were sitting and drinking as waitresses fawned over them. A little to much to be normal, almost like they were...

"This is a hostess bar!" Jamie exclaimed, alarmed by his being inside such a place.

"Took you long enough to notice dork," Emmie said, her head leaned backwards. A smile spread across her face, she'd been counting the minutes before Jamie finally noticed. She'd gotten up to nine minutes.

"Why-What-Huh?" Jamie sat there trying arrange the events within his head. He finally spoke, sounding exasperated. "Do they even allow minors in here!?"

"I'm an exception, and since your my partner you are too."

"But..." Jamie trailed off, blushing a little as he noticed the short, tight, dresses each of the hostesses. "Aren't we going to get in trouble?"

"My Aunt has been working here for a while now, like, years. So they won't bug us unless it gets really busy; that's when they'll kick us out."

Jamie shifted nervously in his seat as they waited for Blair to come and serve them. Thankfully, it was only another five minutes before she came flouncing out of the back.

"Em-Chan! Jamie! I'm so glad you two came to eat here!" Blair cried out happily. She was carrying two trays of spaghetti and meatballs, with two iced teas. She set them down and the two teens hungrily began devouring their meals.

A few huge bites and sips later Emmie and Jamie had content bellies and were about ready to go home.

"Thanks for the meal Blair, it was really nice of you to let us eat free," Jamie said finishing his iced tea.

"It was my pleasure, besides, how could i charge my Em-Chan and her partner?"

"Anyway, thanks Aunty Blair. We're going to heading out now, we don't want to get in your way when real customers come in," Emmie stood up and stretched, it was always nice coming to Chupakabras. Free food, she got to see Aunty Blair, and there were no other teens to stare at her.

Jamie got up and followed Emmie out into the cool evening air. They walked in silence for a while.

Jamie thought about what Sid had said to him earlier in the day and Emmie thought about what Tsubaki had said to her.

"Emmie, I've been meaning-"

"Jamie, I've needed to-"

They stopped and laughed.

"Okay, you go first," Jamie said, finally finding his voice again.

"I meant to say that i owe an apology, i haven't been taking your opinion in to consideration," Emmie said calmly. "I'm sorry that i pushed my ideas about training onto you. I just wanted to make us stronger."

"No, i went along because i wanted to get stronger too; you were just doing it your way," Jamie said quickly, he really had been going along simply because he wanted to. Although the thought of disagreement about the training had crossed his mind, but he hadn't thought about voicing these complaints.

Emmie frowned. "Really? You didn't mind?"

"A little, but not much."

Emmie visibly relaxed. "That's good. Now what did you want to say?"

Jamie paused in his walking, he looked upwards at the evening sky. The stars were appearing now.

"Jamie?"

Jamie sighed, he hadn't really wanted to tell anyone about this, but if they were going to strengthen their relationship he had to come clean about it.

"Emmie, it's about time i told you about my family."


	7. Chapter 6

Suspenseful, that's how I'd describe the cliff hanger from last time. Is anyone curious to who exactly Jamie's family is? (i certainly was until i made it up) please favourite and follow!

"Your family? What about your family?" Emmie asked incredulously. This had certain come out of no where.

"I haven't been exactly honest about where i come from," Jamie said looking at the ground. "I've been avoiding the idea of telling anyone about it. But Sid said i should probably come clean to you at least."

Emmie was quiet for a moment. "Okay, if were going to have a big coming clean conversation, let's at least sit down somewhere."

They walked for a little while longer and came to a deserted play ground. Emmie sat down on a swing and Jamie followed in suit.

"Now that were here, let me here it, what's your big secret?" Emmie asked. She swung herself a bit on the swing.

"I'm not really sure where to begin, there's a lot to cover," Jamie said.

"Start from the beginning, that's generally where a story starts."

Jamie thought for a moment then began. "I was born in France, in Paris no less. My mother is half french and my father is an English man, odd coupling huh?"

Emmie nodded, then gestured for him to continue.

"I have one younger sister, her name is Julia. We grew up in a lot of places, never really setting down any roots."

"So you moved a lot?"

"Sorta, but it was actually just shifting from one of our houses to the next. We have about seven mansion around the world, placed in the capital city of each continent."

"Wait, does that mean your...?"

"Fabulously rich? Yeah, that's exactly it. I've had anything and everything i wanted for as long as i can remember," Jamie smiled a dry and unhappy smile, he really didn't like any of those houses. To big and roomy, no one there, but his younger sister and some servants. "My last name is Vinson, from the family of the enormous cooking company, Vinson enterprises. It's not as nice as you would think."

Emmie was silent, she'd stopped swinging and was hiding her face behind her long hair.

Jamie continued on. "I'm an embarrassment to my family, i can't cook at all, i have no interest in the company, and I'm nothing like the perfect boy my parents wanted. I run away when ever i can. From those ridiculous boarding schools, forced marriage attempts, even my last name. I go on about getting stronger, but I'm weak as can be. I've never faced anything, just run away."

Emmie didn't speak, Jamie took this as a negative response and got up to leave.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow-" Jamie began as he started walking away, but something hit him in the head from behind.

"BAKA!" Emmie screamed at him. She pulled her fist away from Jamie's now dented head.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Jamie yelled, rubbing his throbbing skull. "What's the big idea?!"

"Like I'd care about who your parents are! It's just like with my parents, they're the top meister and weapon right now, and yet you didn't give a shit did you? As if I'd give a shit about who your family is or how much money you have!" Emmie ranted. She crossed her arms and raised her voice even louder. "So what if you run away, I'm gonna pound that out of you! Your here now, and your past doesn't matter. **So smarten up and quit a****cting like a spoiled idiot**!"

Jamie was dumb founded. He hadn't been expecting this at all. He'd thought she'd mock him and ask for an exchange in partners. "But i didn't tell you when we first-"

"Enough of this!" Emmie said, cutting him off. "If you can't cook than you'll learn. In fact, I'll teach you if it'll stop your whining."

"Really?" Jamie said getting up.

"Yeah I'll teach you."

"You can cook?"

This earned Jamie another whack on the head.

"Of course i can cook!" She yelled.

"Ow! Okay, okay, you can cook. Now stop hitting me on the head!"

Emmie huffed, but ceased hitting him.

Jamie came up to her. He had one more thing to ask. "Emmie, it's two weeks now. Were meister and weapon, but i haven't seen your weapon form yet. I know your a Scythe, but i don't know what your full form is."

Emmie got quiet again. She whispered her reply. "I don't like showing it off, my full weapon form."

"Why?"

"It's kinda intimidating," She sighed. She met his eyes, careful trust filled them. "But i guess you should see it."

The glow that usually only surrounded her hands, enveloped her whole body. The light showed only her silhouette as she thinned and stretched. She grew taller, and blades sprouted from the edge of her staff. She twirled in the air and Jamie caught her with ease. The light dispersed and revealed a pitch black staff, pointed slightly on the bottom. There was two blades on Emmie's weapon form, one small and black with a shock of green running it down the middle. Her biggest blade was long and deadly looking. Double edges, black on top and green teeth like triangles along the end. Emmie's scythe blade gleamed wickedly in the moon light.

"Well? What do you think?" Emmie said from her reflection in the blade.

Jamie turned his partner around, watching the moon glint off her blades. He smiled. "I think it's beautiful Emmie."

Emmie blushed a little. She wouldn't admit it, but she was pleased that he'd said that.

Jamie really did think she was beautiful, he thought her deadly presence was something to be admired. Strong and perfect. "How come you didn't show me this before?"

"Same as why you didn't tell me about your parents, i was scared you'd want to switch for another partner," Emmie replied. It was oddly nice to be in her weapon form again, she hadn't changed for a few years. "Do you really like it?"

"Absolutely. Mind if i swing you a little?"

"Go ahead."

Jamie did some slow swings, testing out the weight of his weapon. "Your really light."

"That's how all weapons feel if they're in sync with their partners."

"Suppose this means were in sync?" Jamie said smiling.

"Guess so," Emmie replied. "I'd like to change back now."

"Sure," Jamie said. He held Emmie away from him and she shifted back into her human form.

Emmie stretched her arms. "It's a little stiff when you change back and forth for the first time in a little while."

"We both should have come clean weeks ago," Jamie said. "It would have saved us both a lot of worrying."

"I suppose you are right, why would you think i would care about your family?"

"Why would you think I'd dislike your weapon form?"

They smiled, Emmie showing her shark teeth and Jamie showing his normal ones. They both walked home satisfied by the evening events, and pleased they hadn't needed their fears.

Unbeknownst to them both, someone was watching from eyes of a snake nearby.

"Interesssssting..." A voice hissed. Following the movements of the meister and weapon with slit pupils. "I can't wait to meet the daughter of my missstrissesss killer."

The owner of the voice smiled a cruel smirk, showing snake like fangs within his mouth.

"_Let the gamessss begin."_

And the villain is introduced! Any guesses to who it is? I really enjoyed writing this chapter, i added the fact that Jamie is a terrible cook because i wanted to give a reason for him to be embarrassed about himself and heritage. (don't want a perfect male protagonist with an imperfect female protagonist.) please follow and favourite! It'll encourage me to continue the story!


	8. Chapter 7

**Ahh~ long weekend. Anyone else have one? I did. Course now I feel hung over, not sure why. (and no, I did not go drinking.) I am bored and tired so this will be longish~ enjoy!**

"Eco, eco, eco, ecology~" Emmie sung to herself as she made breakfast. She flipped her bacon up and onto her waiting plate. Her meal today: croissants, strawberries, and bacon. As she sat down with her feast, she salivated. Opening her mouth, she began devouring every scrap of food on her plate. She was halfway when a knock sounded from the door. Grumbling, she got up and opened the door.

"Good morning, Em-Chan!" Blair squealed as she tackled the albino in a hug.

"Ugh, good morning Aunty Blair; I see your feeling happy today."

"Mmmmhhhmmmm~! I got a raise at work so I'm celebrating~!"

Emmie pushed her aunt off of her, smiling. "That's great! I'm glad for you."

"You wanna go out and get some fish tonight~?" Blair said with a cat like smile. "I want a special dinner~"

"Alright, but you're buying it. I don't have the spare money right now."

"Yay! I love Em-Chan's cooking~!"

After Emmie finished her food, she got dressed in her Sunday casual.

'_Mmmm… Sundays are the best.'_ Emmie thought as she stretched her arms out. She was going out to meet Jamie for some training. Today they were going to try to resonate. It'd been about two months since they'd begun the school year. Balancing out her after school fights and homework, it'd been exhausting. The only thing that had made it better was her training/work outs and her nights at-

Knocking once again distracted her. She sighed, going for the door once again. This time it was Jamie.

"Morning, ready for over time classes?" He said smiling.

Emmie glared at him. "How are you such a morning person?"

"Don't know, just am."

"*sigh* let's get going then."

They'd gotten permission to use the school gym today. There wouldn't be anyone be there, which made Emmie feel a lot better. She still wasn't over her issues with transforming in front of others.

They finally made it to the top of the school stairs, Jamie huffing and gasping for breath; he'd gotten better about climbing the stairs, but still had a ways to go. Emmie, who'd climbed them since she could walk, was just fine. They'd been working hard on increasing Jamie's stamina and physical strength for the last few weeks, he'd made good progress. He was already the strongest in class, besides Emmie of course.

They opened the classroom doors; there wasn't a soul in sight. They started moving the desks and chairs out of the way, making a circle in the center of the room.

Emmie brushed the hair out of her face. "Alright, I think this is good."

Jamie nodded; they began setting out a mat they'd borrowed from the school gymnasium. They stood in the middle of it, not quite sure what to do next.

"I guess… I transform now," Emmie said.

"I guess."

Emmie closed her eyes, letting the glow surround her. She transformed and twirled in the air. Jamie caught her and the glow burst away, revealing Emmie now in scythe mode. Jamie swung her around, enjoying the sensation of a weapon in his hands. It made him feel powerful.

"You ready?" Emmie said from within the blade.

"Yup, on my mark; one… two… three!"

Jamie reached out for Emmie's soul and Emmie reached for his, like they'd been told in class to do. Jamie saw Emmie's soul clearly; he'd gained soul perception a month ago. Emmie's soul was light green, strong and spikey; showing its owners personality. Emmie saw Jamie's soul as well, she could only see it if they were focusing together. His was sky blue, warm and happy feeling. They both reach at the same time and pulled each other's soul close to their own. The resonation began; sparks flew between the two of them. Green and blue melding to a white flash as they connected.

Suddenly something went wrong; Jamie felt a surge of malice coming from Emmie's soul. Jamie cried out as he felt Emmie's soul reject him, it lashed out and wounded him through his soul. Emmie screamed in pain as well, feeling something shift and writhe within her soul; Dark, cruel, _black._

Emmie shifted back to human, clutching her chest. Jamie was still standing, but was shaky on his feet. He was holding his head, the blood rushing in his ears. They stood/lay in agony, each trying to reaffirm their bearings.

Jamie finally stuttered out a sentence. "W-what the hell was that?"

Emmie stared wide eyed at the walls, not really seeing anything. "I don't… I don't know..."

A staff member came bursting in through the door,

"They're in here!"

"Get the nurse!"

More staff came running in, they helped Jamie out and down to the nurse's office and carried Emmie along.

'_That was wrong… what was that exactly? It felt horrible…' _Emmie thought hazily. She clenched her hand shut; her nails jabbed into her skin. '_That came from me. From deep inside me, my very soul. I don't understand, how could I have something so… so... evil inside me?"_

Emmie's eyes drifted shut, her mind and body taxed to the limit. She let blissful unconsciousness wash over her, relieving her from her turbulent thoughts.

**Line break**

Jamie lay on the cot he'd been given, trying to figure out what had happened. It'd been going so well, they'd almost had a resonance, but then… something had rejected him.

Jamie mulled over this thought and came to the same question he'd come to for the last half an hour. Had Emmie rejected him? Or was it something else?

Nurse Nigus came in, carrying a report on her clip board. "You two were trying to resonate, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Jamie said as he sat up painfully, wincing from the injuries inside. "How'd you know?"

"Sid came and filled me in; he got the call from the others. They were worried when they heard you two screaming," Nigus said flipping through her files. She paused and got quiet. "Did he warn you before this…?"

Jamie shook his head. "No one said anything. Why would they need to?"

Nigus opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the office door slamming open. Blair, Blackstar, and Tsubaki tumbled into the room.

"Is Em-Chan okay?!"

"What happened to them?!"

"Are they injured?!"

"Calm down you three! They're fine; or about as fine as people who've injured their souls can be," Nigus scolded them. She was surprised at how none of them had changed even after all these years. "Your noise isn't going to help anyone though, so stop shouting!"

Course Nigus was shouting now, but Jamie kept that comment to himself.

"Yes ma'am," The three visitors chimed before moving to see the injured partners. Beside Jamie lay Emmie, passed out and breathing softly.

"What happened? I thought you two were just practicing your resonation," Tsubaki said, her eyes darted between Emmie and Jamie.

"That's what I thought too, but then…" Jamie trailed off. "Could someone tell just what was going on? What happened to me and Emmie?"

The adults got quiet, they exchanged looks of knowing. Nigus sighed and spoke.

"Well… it actually started before she was born. Before her parents were even married."


	9. Chapter 8

Wow, last chapter was interesting, huh? (and i was the one writing it.) I'd like some feed back about how this is progressing, i need encouragement! By the way, this is about the time I'm to ask for an OC. I need one for another weapon and meister. Please don't make them ridiculously powerful, i need the main characters to stand out. The OC character may appear more than once, but no promises. No dramatic backgrounds either, it'll be hard to work in. List their appearance, weapon type, likes/dislikes, and name.

**disclaimer, i don't own soul eater, but it's a nice thought!**

Jamie was silent as Nigus explained what had happened to them, to Emmie.

"Emmie mom and dad, Maka and Soul, were on a mission. They were about your age then, still pretty new to the EAT class.," Nigus paused then continued. "They were doing an investigation, nothing major. They couldn't have known what was waiting for them. I wasn't the nurse at that time, but i heard from others about what happened. Maka and Soul met a demon sword there. It attack them, and Soul was badly injured. That attack, not only did it almost kill him, but it also infected him with black blood."

"Black blood? What's that?" Jamie asked, curious.

Blackstar was the one who answered. "It's a poison, but it's like blood. It enters through your blood stream and infects your mind and soul. It drives the people in possession of it insane."

"So did he...?"

"No," Tsubaki replied. "Maka had an anti-demon wave length. She helped Soul repress it, without getting infected herself."

"We'd thought it had died off," Nigus continued. "But it didn't, it instead went dormant inside Soul. It wasn't until Emmie was born that we discovered this. Something happened during her first few days in school and it awoke. It also activated her weapon gene, which made her the youngest weapon to ever awaken."

Jamie didn't say anything. Tsubaki picked up where Nigus had left off. "We didn't tell her about the black blood, we wanted her to live a normal life; or as normal as it could be. We thought if we helped her train enough, she'd never get taken under the black blood's control again. But..."

Tsubaki stared at the unconscious Emmie. "It looks like we were wrong. I'm sorry Jamie, we didn't know the blood would reject you. We didn't think it would show it's power ever again."

"So it wasn't Emmie who rejected me?" Jamie asked, his eyes hidden behind his blonde bangs.

"No."

Jamie sighed. "What a relief! I thought she'd changed her mind about us being partners!"

Nigus, Tsubaki, and Blackstar stared at him. Nigus cleared her throat. "Your not upset? About this happening?"

Jamie scratched his head thoughtfully. "No, not really. I was actually more worried about Emmie rather than the black blood. I understand why you didn't tell us, it was what you thought was best at the time. It may not have worked out in the long run, but she had a chance to live without it right?"

Tsubaki smiled, teary eyed. "Thank for understanding, and for staying by Emmie's side despite this."

Nigus walked away to retrieve some pain killer, a smile placed in her lips. She was happy Emmie had found a good partner, and friend. Blackstar said nothing, he left and shut the door quietly behind him; uncharacteristic for him.

Once he was alone in the hallway he slammed his fist into the wall, leaving large cracks in the boards. His face twisted in rage.

"Soul, Maka, you dumb asses. Not here when she needs you most," He growled to himself. He was pissed that his to friends hadn't been here to comfort Emmie in her time of need. They never were. He done everything he could to help Emmie, but there was only so much a family friend could do. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stalked away.

**line break**

_Emmie ran, her breath heaving. She didn't know where she was, somewhere dark and starless. Something grabbed her leg, she screamed as it dragged her down. Black tentacles stretched from the floor and began encasing her legs._

"_No! Let go! Don't- Ahhhh!" She screamed as the tentacles grew spikes and pierced the tender flesh of her legs and arms. Tears flowed from her eyes as a figure rose from the mass of black sludge._

"_Don't be afraid," The figure whispered in a haunting voice. "You have no reason to struggle anymore, I am here now! Just let me in and all your troubles will vanish!"_

"_Who are you?!" Emmie screamed as the figure came closer, it's features becoming clear. "What do you want with me!?"_

"_Who am i~?" The figure smiled. It's face changed and shifted, long hair sprouted and pale skin became clear. A familiar sharp tooth smile formed on the creature. It moved right up to Emmie face._

"_Why Emmie dear, __**I'm you**__."_

_The fake Emmie cackled as Emmie writhed and twisted in it's grip. Emmie cried out over and over. The tentacles tightened and pulled her deeper. Emmie let out one last cry as the blackness swallowed her entirely._

"_Help!"_

**line break**

Emmie screamed and woke in a sweat. She sat there panting from her nightmare. Once she'd calmed down, she lay back down on her bed.

Wait, why was she in bed?

This wasn't her bed either.

She bolted up right, and examined her surroundings. She was in the nurse office, laying on one of the cots. There wasn't anyone else around.

"How did i get here...?" Emmie asked aloud. Then it hit her, the memory of what happened.

"Shit!" She cursed, her eyes teared up. Why was this happening to her? She'd finally found someone to trust and this crap had to show up?!

The door to the office opened and Jamie stepped in.

"Ah! Your up! How are you fe-" Jamie asked, but then caught sight of Emmie's tears. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you still in pain? Does it hurt?"

Jamie ran over to Emmie, quickly setting down the trays of food he'd been carrying. He reached for Emmie's shoulder, but she slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" She cried. She quickly rubbed away the salty tears. She climb of the cot and tried to stand. Her legs were wobbly though and she collapsed to the floor.

"Careful, your still recovering!" Jamie said frantically as Emmie tried to get up and move again.

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" Emmie yelled as she slowly moved towards the door. "I don't need your help! I'm perfectly fine-"

"No your not!" Jamie shouted, surprising Emmie. "You need to sit down and let me help you. Your hurt and exhausted. Now get back on your cot or i will put you there myself!"

Emmie glared and continued for the door. Jamie sighed and swept her up into his arms, carrying her back to her cot.

"WHAT THE HELL!? PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT! JAMIE!"

"No! You need to rest!" He insisted. He dropped her onto the bed and held her there.

"Let me go BAKA!" She screamed and kicked at Jamie. "I don't need rest! Let leave-"

"Stop resisting Emmie! You need to recuperate from the black blood attack!" Jamie shouted. Emmie stopped moving, she went limp.

"Black... blood...?" She whispered. Her eyes were wide and fearful. She knew exactly what black blood was. It was madness in the form of liquid. It was insanity, the very thing Shibusen had been built to fight. "No, that can't be..."

Jamie let go, saddened by his partner's state, she was pale and defeated. Her hair was messy and the spark was gone form her eyes; she lacked the determination that had drawn Jamie to her in the first place.

"It's fine Emmie, you don't need to stress about it to much. Your alright now and so am i," Jamie said, trying to console his partner. "We'll figure things out there's no reason we can't learn to work around this, i mean..."

Jamie trailed off, none of his words were getting through to her. Emmie just lay there, staring at the ceiling blankly. Her eyes dull and unfocused.

Jamie looked around trying to find a way to cheer her up. He spotted the food trays. "How about we have some lunch, huh Emmie? I know your hungry."

He grabbed Emmie's portion of the food and brought it over. "Here, it's apples and a ham sandwiches, Tsubaki even cut the apples into bunnies."

He set the tray next to Emmie on the side table. "Come on Emmie, eat and feel better."

Emmie didn't say anything. She just lay there looking broken. Jamie felt useless, he couldn't do anything at all.

"I guess you need some time to be alone, i take my leave now," He said smiling halfheartedly. He opened the door and looked back at Emmie she'd turned over and was staring at the window. He shook his head and shut the door. Once in the hall he sank to the floor, feeling horrible about his helplessness. He hung his head and hands over his knees as he reexamined the events of yesterday. There was so much to take. The failed resonance, the black blood, it's rejection of him, and now he couldn't do anything to help Emmie either. He was a failure as a partner.

He felt responsible for not noticing the black blood. Tsubaki and Nigus had assured him that it wasn't fault for the attack, that only the most powerful of meisters could see the black blood inside her soul. That it just wasn't possible for him to have noticed it. Regardless, Jamie felt it was his lack of talent and power that he'd let Emmie get hurt.

"Jamie, why are you in the hallway?" Nigus asked him, she'd come back to check on them and found him on the floor looking miserable. "Shouldn't you be resting with Emmie?"

"Uh, yeah," He replied, putting a sheepish smile on his face. "I thought Emmie could use some time alone, so i came out here for a moment."

"Hmmm... so she awake?"

"Yes, she just woke up. And i... i told her about what's happened to her. What happened to us," Jamie dropped his smile again. "She didn't take it well. I think.. i think she really upset about what happened, and about the blood. She wouldn't respond after i told her."

"That's to be expected, it's a lot to take in after all."

Suddenly a crash and breaking glass interrupted the silence of the atmosphere. Nigus opened the door, Jamie followed close behind. The largest window in the room was shattered and Emmie wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Jamie ran for the window, ignoring the glass beneath his bare feet. He stuck his head out the shatter window and called out. "EMMIE!"

But she was long gone.

Wow, that escalated faster than i thought it would. (emotional chapter, huh?) i hope your all enjoying the story of Emmie and Jamie's struggle. (that's how it is right now anyway) again, please send in an OC for a weapon and meister pair, they'll be needed in the next few chapters. Please favourite and follow!


	10. Chapter 9

Last chapter was hectic, am i right? Things are getting pretty crazy. (of course that's my on fault, LOL)

Thank you to lotuswolf95 for sending in your OC's. They will be included after rapping up this mess. Please enjoy this turbulent chapter! (just so you know lotuswolf95, i changed the hair of one, sorry!)

She ran, her breath heaving. Another wave of pain sent her to the ground of the alleyway. She clutched herself tight as she fought against the urge to cry out. No, she couldn't afford to be found right now. She needed to get home before things got worse.

Emmie hauled her shaking body off the ground, the pain worsening inside of her. Her soul was fractured, though she couldn't see it she could feel. Oh yes, she could certainly feel it. Not only could she feel her soul was cracked, but she could feel what was slithering around inside that crack; reaching out into her system.

_'NO! I will not let it take hold of me!'_ Emmie thought, forcing it to stay down again. She wasn't willing to let the black blood out. She continued on, making her way through the back streets of Death City. She was still wearing her clothes from yesterday, but had grabbed a hoodie from a nearby shop to conceal her white hair; her hair was a dead give away to who she was.

Finally exhaustion caught up with her, she wobbled and fell beside a dumpster.

_'I guess one nap won't hurt...'_ Her slid shut and she gave into the need for rest. Her mind drifting off into memories and dreams.

**Flash back!**

_Emmie was in her bed, the one she'd slept in when she was little. She heard her mommy and daddy shouting in the living room. They were fighting about something with their grown up friends._

"_We need to tell her!" Nigus said forcefully. "She has a right to know!"_

"_No! I want her to live a normal life. She doesn't need to know about anything, we'll suppress it," Emmie's mom shouted back. "I don't want my kid growing up with that burden. No kid should have to hold knowledge like that."_

"_Maka, she'll find out eventually," Emmie opened the door a crack and saw her mommy hugging her daddy as he talked._

"_I know Soul! But we can at least give her a chance at living a normal childhood. We can tell Esmeralda when she's ready."_

"_Maka, are you sure?" Tsubaki asked, her face was a picture of concern._

"_Yes," Maka said, wiping tears from her face. "No one is to tell her, not until me and Soul say so."_

_They were all silent, except Patti, who was messing with the refrigerator._

"_Then no one will speak of it again, you have my word Maka," Kidd promised. "We all want the best for her."_

_Liz nodded, and so did Blackstar. Nigus gave in and agreed to._

_Emmie was leaning against the door frame. Were they talking about her? We're they mad about what she'd done to that boy last week? Suddenly, she lost grip on the slippery wooden floor; and went crashing down. She spilled out into the hallway, everyone went silent as she began picking herself off the floor, muttering excuses._

_Her mom came over and scooped her up, putting a smile on her face._

"_Did we wake you up Esmeralda?" Maka said, holding her daughter close._

"_No, i woke up by myself mommy. Why is everyone so sad?" Emmie asked, her brown eyes peeking at her family through her mother blonde hair. "Are you all mad at me?"_

"_No, everything is fine," Maka replied. She squeezed Emmie closer. "You didn't do anything wrong."_

_Emmie raised her hand and beckoned her daddy to come and hug her too. He complied, hugging her just as tight as her mommy had. She played with her daddy's white hair, her own so much like it._

"_You promise no one's mad at me?" Emmie asked again._

"_No, no one is mad at you Emmie," Her fathers gruff voice whispered in her ear._

_Emmie didn't get it, if no one upset, then why was mommy, Tsubaki, and Liz crying all crying?_

**Flash back end!**

"Wow, the white demon has sunk to an all time low," A nasally voice woke Emmie from her dream/memory. She looked up and found she was surrounded by about twenty members of a local gang. The gang she'd beat up recently.

"Suppose you came to get revenge for those idiots, am i right?" Emmie asked, forcing herself to stand and meet him. Outside she showed a fierce glare, inside however, she was frightened. She was in no shape to fight right now, not with her injuries.

"Right, not even you can get away with beatin' our comrades!" The leader of the bunch shouted at her. He had a bandana that cast a shadow over his eyes, and coarse brown hair that stuck up around his head.

"Yeah!" The rest shout in union. They held assortments of weapons in their hands, everyone of them prepped and ready for a fight.

"Line up, it'll make it easier to punch you all out in an orderly fashion," Emmie taunted. She needed them mad, people make mistakes when they're mad in a fight. She needed them to make a _lot_ if mistakes if she was going to make it out of this.

It worked, the leader turned red and shouted for the others to attack. They came at her from all sides. Emmie jumped and made a grab at the fire escape ladder above her. She held tight to the railing and kicked the attacking gang members away. She swung and jumped down behind them, picked herself up, and began running. She ran through the alleys, dodging trashcans and the attacks of the gang. She was so close! Just blocks from her apartment, if she could just keep this up she'd be fre-

A sudden vicious pain exploded from within her, knocked her breath away and she fell. She heaved, her stomach twisting inside. She turned and saw the gang had caught up with her.

"*Huff* Your a hard one to catch," The leader said out of breath. His gang circled around Emmie once again, there wasn't any way out this time.

"Alright boys, have at her!"

They cheered and began to kick Emmie, throw rocks, and beat her with metal poles. They jeered and laughed as she curled up, trying to protect herself.

_'Let me help Emmie~'_ The black blood hissed from inside Emmie's mind. _'Your going to get us both killed at this rate~'_

_'Shut up! I don't need you! Go back! This all your fault any way!'_

_'Oh, but do you really want to die this way? At the hands of scum?' _The Fake Emmie asked. _'Let me in and everything will get better again~'_

A kick found it's way to Emmie's ribs, she heard an audible crack and she screamed in pain.

_'Alright! Fine! Save us!' _Emmie cried out to her fake duplicate. _'But I'll only let you in if you promise to go away after!'_

_'Sure, Sure~' _The Fake Emmie chuckled. This was going to be fun. Emmie flinched as the black blood rushed into her system.

The leader of the attacking gang sneered as he watched the most feared fighter on the Death City streets cower in a ball as his loyal lackeys beat her to oblivion. He continued to award himself for this feat until he noticed something was wrong. He yelled for his lackeys to let up and went to inspect.

Black tears had begun to pour from The White Demon's closed eyes.

"What the he-" His sentence was cut short by the blades that exploded from the albino in front of him. The White Demon stood up, pure black blades scraping the asphalt. She sneered and looked him straight in the eye, her brown eyes now pitch black through and through.

"_Hello, ready for a real fight?"_ Emmie cackled. She swung her bladed hand, slashing at the teen.

**line break!**

Jamie ran through the streets of Death City, searching desperately. After he and Nigus had discovered Emmie missing they'd called everyone they could and had begun the search. He'd been told to check her apartment, and Nigus, Tsubaki, Blair (who was off work at the moment), and Blackstar would search the rest of the city.

_'Dammit, dammit, dammit!' _Jamie cursed himself for leaving her alone. _'Why would leave in her condition? If she gets in a fight...'_

He continued to race forward to Emmie's home, hoping to every god he could think of that she would be there.

**line break**

Emmie barely missed the teen's face as he ducked at the last second. He stumbled back, putting as much space between him and the girl as possible.

"_Awww... why'd you run away~?"_ Emmie cooed. _"It won't hurt that much, now if you'll just stand still..."_

Their leader's scream woke the lackeys from their spell of fear and shock. They stumbled over each other to get out of the way of the reborn White Demon. Emmie grinned and the massacre began.

She sliced easily through skin of the closest ones, they fell like dominoes. So pitiful in her eyes. She loved it, the rush, the flow, such power unlocked by one simple agreement.

She laughed as another enemy was felled by her hands, everything was wonderful again! Why had she worried about this in the first place?

Blood spattered the walls and brick of the alley, the screams of the terrified gang echoed around her as she slashed and slashed. She smiled as she came upon the final member, his eyes were wide and fearful.

"_Ah, what a wonderful expression,"_ Emmie said. She reached out to the shaking teen and began dragging her scythe blade across his cheek. He flinched as blood began running down his face.

"_Shush now,"_ Emmie said. She deactivated one of her blade hands and used it to brush the hair from the teens face. _"You'll be able to join your friends~"_

**line break****!**

Jamie was a few blocks from Emmie's place now, he was beginning to falter though. The stress his body had gone through yesterday had left him fairly weakened. But he couldn't stop just yet. He pushed onwards, ignoring the cramps in his sides.

He was so close when he heard screams of terror from the alley up ahead. He skidded to a halt and crept around the corner. He slowly peeked around and saw a scene out of "Texas chainsaw massacre". There was blood every where, bodies too. He quickly ran around to each one of the teens splayed about and check their pulses.

_'Good, they're all alive,'_ He thought, relieved he hadn't found a murder scene. A whimpered yelp came from around the corner ahead of him. He got up and followed the sound, he came around the corner and found...

Emmie.

She was standing over a frightened male teen, blood dripping from her blades. She raised her blades and swung down.

"_**EMMIE! NO!"**_ He shouted. He ran and grabbed her, twisting her around. "What on earth are you doing!?"

"Wha-? Jamie?" Emmie looked around confused. Her now brown eyes scanned her surroundings. "What was i doing...?"

She gasped when she caught sight of her blades, still slick with blood. She turned and saw the cowering teen. Stumbling back away, she went around the corner and saw a sight worse than any she'd come across. The gang that had attacked her laid in the alleyway, every last one. Slash marks covered each one, blood oozed onto the ground, staining Emmie's grey convers.

"No... i-i killed them..." She said breathlessly. Her blades evaporated and she clutched herself with shaking arms, ignoring the blood on them.

"You didn't kill anyone Emmie," Jamie said coming up behind her. "I checked all of them, they're all alive. What happened here?"

"I... they attacked me and... the black blood... it tempted me..." Emmie said in hoarse whisper. "How could i...?"

"Emmie..." Jamie said laying his hand gently on her back. She turned and scrambled away from him.

"No! D-don't touch me!" She stuttered. "It's just like all those years ago! I hurt more people! How could i forget? I lost control again; and now there's no hope! I have black blood inside me! Madness!"

Jamie tried again to calm her down. "Emmie, stop. It's fine, we'll just call Nigus and the others and we'll get these guys to a hospital."

Emmie didn't say anything, she just stood there hugging her arms to her body.

Jamie grabbed her arms and looked her straight in the eye.

"Listen, you did nothing wrong. These guys probably deserved what they got, and i can see their souls; most of them are well on their way to being Kishins," Jamie's blue eyes were inches from Emmie's. He loosened his grip when he saw how broken her gaze was. "Promise you won't stupid things anymore, 'kay?"

"But i have..." Emmie trailed off, breaking their eye contact. "What if this happens again? What if i do it to you?"

"I won't let that happen. I should have notice sooner. This entire thing is my fault," Jamie said. "I'm the meister, I'm the one who should be taking care of my weapon."

"You couldn't have known, you only just learned-"

"It doesn't matter!" Jamie shouted. "I won't let you take all the blame."

He made a split second decision and pulled Emmie into a hug.

"What...?" Emmie gasped as her partner held her close.

"We'll figure this out, together." Jamie squeezed Emmie tighter. Emmie gave in, finally letting her tears flow freely. She hugged him back, sobbing all the while. Her tears washed away the remainder of the black trails on her face.

_'She's so small now that i think about it. Fragile...'_ Jamie thought. They broke apart, Emmie wiped her tears away and Jamie pulled out his cell phone and called Nigus.

"We should probably get these guys to a hospital now, they might bleed to death at this rate," Jamie said as the phone connected. "Nigus, i found her, we're a few blocks from her apartment. No, she's fine, but these other guys... you'll need to call some of your hospital buddies."

He hung up, Nigus had said that she'd contact Blackstar and Tsubaki; as well as some medical help for the twenty some teens that were passed out.

"They said they were on their way," Jamie said walking over to Emmie who was crouching on the ground. She was rolling the teens to the side so that the Ambulances could get at them.

"That's good," Emmie said in an absent minded tone.

"What's wrong? Besides the obvious."

"Well, i just don't get why no one told me, told us. Maybe we could have avoided this whole thing."

"Yeah, but that would have meant you'd have shunned people. Hidden yourself away in fear of exposing yourself," Jamie said as he sat down on the ground beside her. "Your mom and dad probably wanted to give you a normal childhood. Or at least a semblance of one."

"Heh, yeah and how well did that work out?" Emmie smiled wryly. Her eyes tired and sad. "All i did was get into fight after fight in those years. Maybe it would have been better if I'd locked myself away a long time ago."

"No it wouldn't have," Jamie placed his hand on Emmie's shoulder. "If you had locked yourself away, i wouldn't have been able to meet you and we'd never have become partners."

Emmie stared at him. Then quirked an eyebrow. "Don't try to be smooth, it's weird."

Jamie laughed. "I guess it does sound weird, but it is true just so you know. I'm happy to be your partner."

"Thanks, I'm happy to be your partner too," Emmie said, brushing her hair away; smiling.

From a nearby snake, their stalker watch the two.

"What do think? Can you take care of them?" The snake man hissed to the young witch beside him.

"Yes, it won't be too hard," She replied curtly. A small bat fluttered on her arm. "Where do want me to meet them?"

"In New York. But you'll have to wait until they move up a level, they cannot fight just yet."

The pink and black cloaked witch nodded. She faded into the shadows whispering a reply.

"Yes, Venom."

**line break**!

Hidden up top a building nearby, yet another set of eyes watched. Bright eyes calculating, observing the meister and weapon.

He pulled a cell phone from his pocket dialled, his commander.

"Yes, the B-blood was suppressed. She fought it back, there won't be any need to remove her," The teen spoke into the phone. "I believe it's time to move them up a level, their power is to much for the NOT class now. Yes, please do the necessary paper work, they need to be moved by tomorrow."

He clicked the phone shut and shoved it back into his pocket.

A flash came from his two weapons.

"Are you sure it's okay to move them up? You saw how dangerous they are D.K." Said the sniper rifle from his back. The reflection showed a pretty brown haired girl.

"Yeah, is it really fine for them to get EAT training?" Asked the revolver on his side. The reflection was of a short black haired girl. Both of the weapons looked about 15-16.

The boy frowned. "No, i don't know, but this is the best decision at the moment."

They disappeared in a flash of black and white as Nigus and the others arrived.

Only Blackstar noticed, but dismissed it. Thinking it was nothing.

Whoa, looooooooong chapter. Crazy too. I didn't realize how fun it is to make a main character kinda evil/crazy. (explains why bleach, naruto, and a bunch of other series did it.) Thank you all for your comments and reviews! It motivates me to keep going! :3

Anyone guessing at who the new guy is? Or what the villain is after? Leave your guesses in the comments!


	11. Chapter 10

I hope you all enjoyed the story thus far, (i have). I'd like some feed back about the characters, particularly Emmie and Jamie. So if you could, (please!), leave your comments about them in the review/comment box below!

"_Emmie, you know you haven't gotten rid of me~"_

'don't tell me...'

_Emmie was asleep, she new that at least. But she wasn't enjoying this sleep, she was floating in a deep black, listening to the taunting voice of the black blood._

"_Yes, it's me. Don't think just because you and that boy suppressed my power I'm going to leave you alone," Fake Emmie appeared behind Emmie and grabbed her by the shoulders. Fake Emmie propped her head over Emmie's shoulder and spoke in her ear._

"_I hope me going wild doesn't mean you've come to hate me," The black blood said. "You know you need me, and i need you. We cannot exist without each other."_

"As if! I did just fine without you before!" _Emmie shot back. She grabbed the black blood'__s arms and flipped her over her and off._

_The black blood cackled wildly. A dark smile on her lips. "Oh don't be like that."_

"I act as i please!"

"_You don't get it Emmie dear, we've never been apart. I've always been here, with you; helping you along. Making you stronger..."_

"Your wrong! I made myself stronger! I'm the one in control!" _Emmie shouted in rage. She activated her scythe blades and slashed at the fake Emmie. Fake Emmie blocked with her own blades. They stood there, (or floated), staring the o__ther down. Blades sparking against one another._

_Fake Emmie pulled away first, yanking her blades out of the way and floating around Emmie. "I think I'll end our game for now, we have school in a moment."_

"What are you talking about-?"

Emmie jolted awake from the harsh blaring of her alarm clock. She glared at it, hating it for waking her up once again.

"Shut up, you piece of crap!" She grumbled as she slammed down the snoozed button. It was Monday, one week after the black blood awakened and caused heck. She'd spent the last few days recovering and training to suppress the black blood. Nigus had given her some pain killers and herbs that were supposed to help lessen the issues regarding her black blood. So far, the day had been fine, but night had left her plagued with nightmares.

Regardless, the black blood hadn't done much else. Emmie's life had almost returned to normal.

Emmie yawned as she grabbed a bagel and headed out the door. Not quite ready for her return to school.

**Line break!**

"What do you mean this isn't my class anymore?" Jamie asked Sid. Sid had stopped him at the doorway to class, he'd explained they'd been transferred to a different section of the school.

"I found out on Friday, you and Emmie have been moved up into the EAT class," Sid said crossing his arms. "Congrats on moving up so quickly."

"But we aren't anywhere near that level yet!"

"We aren't near what level?" Emmie asked coming up behind them; she'd finally arrived. Late as usual.

"Sid says we've been moved to the EAT class," Jamie greeted his partner. Grateful she'd shown up. Maybe she could help sort this out.

"WHAT!?" Emmie yelled, she smiled widely. "That's great!" she stopped then continued, with a confused tone. "When did this happen exactly?"

"Last week," Sid said.

"Huh, and we weren't informed about this why...?"

"I forgot."

Jamie face palmed. "So now what? Do we just leave class and find our new one?"

"That's the gist of it," Sid said. He went back into his classroom and pulled the door shut. Emmie and Jamie stood there for a moment, then Emmie shrugged and started off to the administration office. Jamie followed.

**Line break**

"Ugh, i hate being late for class," Jamie groaned as the two of them climbed up another set of steps, trying to find their new class.

"It's not my fault the office lady is an unorganized idiot," Emmie grumbled. She didn't mind being late to much, but it was awkward to arrive late for your new class.

_'We moved up, huh?"_ She thought happily. Her mom and dad would be proud. Emmie was proud of them too. Only the first semester and they'd already made it into the EAT class with ease. Almost too easy. Emmie frowned, it was a little suspicious. Now that she'd stopped and thought about it, things didn't add up. The black blood activates, she goes on a rampage, and they get a promotion out of it? Could someone know of the B-blood...?

Emmie shook her head. _'Naw, if they knew about the black blood, they wouldn't move us up, they'd move us down. As in down to the holding cells in the basement.'_

Jamie stopped suddenly and Emmie almost ran into him. "Hey, watch it!"

"We're here."

Emmie looked up at the sign for the classroom, same name as the one on the paper sheet the desk lady had given Jamie.

"Class Crescent moon, my parents were in this class when they were our age," Emmie said.

"Really?" Jamie asked.

Emmie nodded. "So was Blackstar, Tsubaki, Kidd, Liz, Patty."

"Who's Kidd, Liz, and Patty?"

"I'll tell you later, but first," Emmie grasped the handle of the door. "We need to attend class."

She pushed it opened, with enough thrust to make it dramatic, but not enough for it slam into the wall.

"Oh, are you our new transfers from NOT class?" Tsubaki said from the desk. "Emmie? Jamie? When did you get-"

"Sid said it was done last week," Jamie said, following Emmie inside. "Sorry we're late Tsubaki, we got held up at the office."

"Tsubaki! You never told me you taught class Crescent Moon!" Emmie said, running over to the tall Japanese woman.

"You never asked," Tsubaki said smiling. "I'm happy for your promotion to EAT class."

"Same here!" Jamie jumped as Blackstar had appeared behind him.

"Y-you teach here too?" Jamie asked, he clutched his chest. Blackstar had really surprised him.

"Yup! Welcome to my class, YAHOO!"

"Our class!" Tsubaki reminded him patiently.

_'That's right! The class!'_ Emmie finally remembered that they weren't the only ones int he room. She turned her head and found _every_ pair of eyes trained on her and her partner. "Um... Hi...?"

No one spoke, they just stared. Emmie noticed a few weren't even paying attention to her.

_'Guess they don't think were equals,'_ Emmie thought. There weren't many students, only roughly about twenty or so. She noticed one red head eyeing her, she was sitting next to boy with grey eyes.

_'At least __they're paying attention,' _Emmie thought wryly. She sighed and ran her fingers through her white hair. This wasn't going to be easy.

Tsubaki clapped her hands to get the attention of everyone. "All right, please welcome Esmeralda Eater and Jamie to class Crescent Moon."

There murmurs throughout the class, undoubtedly about Emmie.

"The Whit Demon?"

"Didn't she beat up that gang last week?"

"No way! They moved up already?"

"The White Demon and her partner..."

_'What, no nick name for me?'_ Jamie thought dejectedly. They could at least know his name by now.

"That's enough! Let's resume class now," Tsubaki raised her voice above the noise. "Emmie, Jamie, could you take your seats?"

Emmie complied and Jamie followed in suit. She sat down in the third row by the stairs, propped her elbows onto the desk and leaned against them. Jamie sat straight, he wanted to here everything.

"Good, now on with our discussion about the battle techniques used when fighting a Kishin..." Tsubaki said, pointing to the chalk board where charts and lists were posted.

_'The stuff here is a lot more interesting than the NOT classes,'_ Emmie thought as she scanned the class. She wasn't paying too much attention, she'd already learned some of the techniques Tsubaki was talking about. _'Now if the people behind us stop staring everything would great."_

In the last row above Emmie there was one set of eyes that stared more intently than the others, a set of bright coloured eyes.

**Line break**

"DING DONG, DEAD DONG," The bell rang for lunch, signalling the release of the captive students. (Note: i now realize the sound their bell makes is ridiculous.)

Emmie stretched and cracked her her neck, sitting in desks always made her stiff. Tsubaki came over to her and Jamie.

"Did you two enjoy your first class?"

"I didn't fall asleep this time, so I'd count that a victory on your part," Emmie quipped.

"Ha ha, thanks," Tsubaki said, being a good sport. "I'm glad that our class bore you to sleep. We'll be continuing outside after lunch, it's Blackstar that teaches martial arts."

"Joy, i get to listen to the blue monkey brag about his skills," Emmie grumbled.

"So where are we eating today?" Jamie asked. They'd left the classroom now and were headed to find some nourishment.

"Cafeteria, same as always," Emmie said as they walked through the bustling halls. "Why?"

"Dunno, just wondering."

Emmie felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned to find a boy, who had the oddest hair. Three whit stripes ran all the way around his head, contrasting against his black hair. Emmie raised an eyebrow. "Can i help you?"

"Not really, i just wanted to say a personal welcome to class Crescent Moon," The boy said as he held out his hand. "My name is D.K. It is a pleasure to meet the infamous White Demon, miss Esmeralda."

"It's Emmie," She replied coldly. She took his hand and shook. She noticed his eyes were a bright gold. '_Interesting...'_

"I was wondering if i may join you and your partner for Emmie," D.K. Continued. "I'd like to get to know you two."

Emmie crossed her arms, she was a bit suspicious of this "D.K."

Jamie spoke up, entering the conversation he'd been excluded from. "We were just heading for the cafeteria, you come if you want."

Emmie shot him a look, but Jamie ignored it; ever the gentleman.

"That would be wonderful," D.K. Said. He smiled as he followed them, pleased by his succession in gaining their trust. This was going to be to easy.

Well, there you have it. New characters, and new issues to deal with. (i going to keep them on their toes, heh heh.) I'm pretty sure that anyone who's read/watch Soul Eater can tell who D.K. is. (it's kinda obvious) Lotuswolf95, i mentioned your characters, but they aren't going to do anything for a while. Please follow and favourite! And leave comments! They make the story come out faster! X3


	12. Chapter 11

Thank you all for your comments! :3 i haven't updated because the last few weeks of school has been approaching. (yikes!) so I've been busy with homework as of late. Please wish me luck and enjoy this chapter of After Spartoi! XD

Emmie sat eating her sandwich, eyeing D.K. She felt that he wasn't giving them a friendly welcome...

He was spying on them. Why and for who she didn't know.

"So when did you join the EAT class D.K.?" Jamie asked, making polite conversation.

"I actually joined quite recently, last month," D.K. Said calmly, he wanted for lunch to be over; he was getting tired Emmie staring at him so harshly. He chewed thoughtfully on the crackers that came with his soup, he'd been hoping they'd be training, but apparently they'd just had to eat. He needed ti see the full extent of their abilities.

He put a smile on and continued with his act. "So, how are you enjoying your time in Shibusen's EAT class?"

"I think it's really interesting, learning battle strategies and about Kishins," Jamie replied.

"I like learning more about how to deal with possible _enemies_," Emmie looked at D.K. pointedly. "Don't you K.D.?"

"D.K., I'm not instant dinner," D.K. Said glaring right back at Emmie. Sparks flew between the two.

"Okay, why don't we all go get ready for afternoon classes?" Jamie said, trying to stop them from getting violent. "Come on Emmie." he continued, dragging Emmie away from the table; her sandwich hanging in her mouth.

Before they disappeared out the doors Emmie made a "I'm watching you" gesture at D.K.

D.K. Sighed, putting his head down on the table. Perhaps this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd thought.

**Line Break!**

"One, two, three!" Emmie said to herself as she stretch out her limbs, preparing for sparing and martial arts practice. As good as she was, she still needed to be careful about pulling a muscle.

"You think we're ready for this?" Jamie asked, he was stretching as well; following his partners example.

"I've been training pretty harshly since the beginning of the semester, you'll do pretty well," Emmie said. She was confident that her meister could at least put up a good fight before going down. "Is it going to be pair battles or one on one?"

"Both, you can choose," D.K. Interjected. He'd come up behind Emmie without her noticing.

Emmie flipped her out of her face and huffed. "Don't sneak up on people wannabe."

"Wannabe? What do you me-"

"Yosh! Please gather over everyone!" Tsubaki called form the other side of the gym. Emmie ignored D.K.'s question and walked away.

"I'm sure you all have some battle experience by now so we'll get right to the fights!" Blackstar said enthusiastically.

Emmie muttered something about "blue monkey" under her breath. Jamie chuckled at this.

"Okay, those who would like to battle in pairs, please follow me," Tsubaki said, about half the pairs of students left with her.

"We aren't sparing together?" Jamie asked when Emmie didn't move.

"No, i fight better by myself. And you could use the combat experience."

Jamie looked around at his intimidating classmates.

"Are you sure?" He squeaked out.

Blackstar pointed to him suddenly. "You first skinny!"

"Huh?!" Jamie panicked as he was shoved onto the mats. He stood in front of opponent, a 5'11 boy with brown hair.

"Yo, I'm Shiro, mesiter. You ready for this newbie?" Shiro asked as he tightened his fingerless gloves.

"Not really," Jamie said. He rubbed his temples, why was he always in these situations?

"You know the rules, the first one to step off the mat loses!" Blackstar yelled out. "Ready... Go!"

The crowd cheered as Shiro made the first move.

Jamie ducked as a punch came close to his face, he moved side ways and brought his fists up in a block position.

Shiro turned and struck again. Jamie blocked with little difficulty. He continued to dodge and block for another few moves.

"What, don't know how to attack?" Shiro asked in a taunting voice. "This is too easy."

"No, I'm just waiting," Jamie said as he quickly dodge again. This time he didn't just dodge to the side, he manoeuvred around to Shiro's back side and got him the lower back.

"Guh!" Shiro turned and struck back at him, but Jamie had already moved out of range.

_'Shiro is good, but his punches aren't as fast as E__mmie's'_ Jamie thought as he ducked and weaved through Shiro's punches. He ducked again and brought a punch up to Shiro's chest. Shiro made an "oof!" sound and clutched his breathless lungs.

Jamie took this opportunity to make a punch to Shiro's temple. Shiro stumbled and tripped on a snag in the mat's material. He fell backwards and landed _off the mat._

Everyone was silent for a moment, the Jamie spoke.

"I won?" Jamie asked in a confused voice. His fists were still raised, waiting to keep going.

"He won?!" Emmie was even more astonished than her partner.

"He won!" Blackstar yelled. The other students began cheering as well. Congratulating the newbie on beating a seasoned meister.

Shiro's red haired partner went over to him and poked at him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine Aria," Was Shiro's grumbled response. _(note: lotuswolf95, your characters ave been introduced __properly!)_

"Wow," Emmie said as Jamie came over for his water bottle. "You completely annihilated him."

"I'm surprised too," Jamie said. He gulped down large amounts of sweet water.

D.K. Watched from afar, writing down the information about Jamie he'd collected.

_'Incredible, is he really a freshman?'_ D.K. Tapped his chin with his pen thoughtfully. Jamie obviously had a huge amount of potential as a meister. _'Just how strong will he get?'_

"Emmie! It's your turn, show us what ya got!" Blackstar shouted at Emmie.

Emmie groaned. "Do have to?"

"Yes!"

"Come on, i did it," Jamie said encouragingly. "If i can, then you definitely can."

"Fine, have my water ready," Emmie gave in, shuffling to the mat where a ginger boy waited.

"H-hi, i-i'm Daniel," He stuttered, brushing his shaggy bangs out of the way. His eyes never meeting Emmie's. "Please t-to meet y-you. A-aren't you a w-weapon? Why a-are you f-fighting solo?"

"Yes, but i fight better by myself," Emmie shrugged at his eye brow raising.

"Ready! Set! Go~!" The moment Blackstar said so, Emmie rushed Daniel.

She swung her bald up fist at his chest. Daniel moved in time to block by grabbing her hand and redirecting the punch. Emmie used the centrifugal force of her punch to twist and kick at him. Daniel did an impossible back bend and avoided her foot.

"What the?" Emmie gasped as Daniel flipped again and again to put distance between them. He stopped, his bangs hiding his eyes.

"Go Daniel!" A short brown haired girl yelled from the crowd. The crowd also began cheering, but half were for Emmie.

"Tch, what's with this guy?" Emmie muttered to herself. Daniel's movements were different now, his limbs bent a moved like they had no bones in them. As he ran towards Emmie the wind blew his bangs out of the way and Emmie noticed what he was doing.

"Hey! His eyes are closed!" Emmie blocked a loose arm attack from Daniel, his eyes still shut tight. "What the hell!?"

Jamie watched his partner, it was weird to see her have difficulty in a fight. Even stranger was the fact that her opponent's eyes were closed; and yet he moved as though he could see her.

"Daniel's fighting style is special," Blackstar said, he was standing next to Jamie now. "He listens for the sound of his opponent's movement then attacks."

"He listens?"

"Yup, he has the best hearing in Shibusen. He uses the style because he doesn't like looking people in the eye, so this "closed eye" style works perfectly."

"Cool..." Jamie said. He was amazed at the different meisters and their abilities. It made him just a little jealous. _'I can't wait to get stronger.'_

"Wait, how does he move like that?" Jamie watched as Daniel bent in an impossible angle to avoid Emmie punches.

"He's double jointed."

"Oh, that's kind of weird."

"Why. Won't. You. Stay. Still!?" Emmie yelled at Daniel as he avoided her once again. She hadn't gotten a decent hit in at all! _'Stupid rubber man! Okay, calm down and think, how __is he avoiding my attacks?'_

Emmie observed Daniel closer as she continued her assault of kicks and punches. She noticed when she moved his ears would shift their position, then he'd attack.

_'So he listens for me to move my feet on the floor and then he __attacks!'_ Emmie had figured it out, now it was time for a counter attack!

"Emmie's figured it out," Blackstar stated as Emmie froze on the mat. Jamie watched closely, ignoring the sounds of the other students cheering. "Daniel is in trouble now."

Emmie ceased her movements, steadied her breathing; even her hair was still. She watched carefully as Daniel got confused, noticing that his target had disappeared. Now was the time to strike. Emmie high into the air, right above the unsuspecting Daniel. She pulled her feet together and let gravity take care of the rest. Her feet hit him right in the back, Daniel fell and made a very undignified whimper as he lay there rubbing his back.

"I-i give up," He said weakly.

The other students cheered as Emmie sauntered off the mat, she'd won by forfeit.

"Good job," Jamie congratulated Emmie. He handed her her water bottle. She guzzled it, mildly exhausted from her strange fight.

"Thanks."

"Ha ha ha ha! To be expected of you Emmie!" Blackstar said whacking her on the back. Emmie coughed and sputtered on her water.

"Don't do that!" She choked out. "You could kill _**coff!**_ Someone!"

**Line Break!**

"Ding dong! Dead dong!" The bell tolled, the end of the school day had finally come.

D.K. Waited for Emmie and Jamie to emerge from the locker rooms. He fingered the one earring on his left ear, a blue and gold clasp. He'd gotten it earlier that day, so it was a little itchy. A pair of girls passed by, giggling. He flashed them a smile and heard them cry out "Kawai!" as they ran away laughing.

D.K. Chuckled to himself. He was glad that he'd collected information in this manner, it meant he got to interact with people. Though he was done now, and he was ready to take Emmie and Jamie to see his higher ups.

Finally Jamie came out of the boys locker room. D.K. Approached him, a smile on his face. "Hello Jamie, impressive fighting today."

"Ah, thank you," Jamie replied, happy that other people thought he'd done well. "I owe it to the training Emmie's been giving me."

"Yes, speaking of which..." D.K. Trailed off as Emmie walked out of the girls locker room. D.K.'s smile slipped for a moment, then appeared again. "Emmie! Perfect, now that your both here, we can go."

"Go where?" Emmie said, hardening her gaze.

"I've been told to take you to see some people, they'd like discuss your recent..." D.K. Paused, searching for the right word. "_Activities."_

Jamie stiffened, Emmie frowned. They both knew what D.K. meant.

"How much do you know?" Emmie asked carefully.

D.K. smiled. "I know _everyt__hing_."

He turned and began walking, gesturing for Emmie and Jamie to follow. Emmie looked at Jamie and Jamie looked at her. They followed because they didn't have any other choice.

They followed D.K. to the centre of the school, climbing winding halls and stair ways. As they went, the amount of students decreased and altogether disappeared. D.K. stopped in front of a small stair case leading to an odd door. The door had a large skull positioned in the middle and metal plate speaking it's name.

"Wait, this is-"

"Death's room," Jamie finished Emmie sentence.

"Yes it is," D.K. said calmly. He walked up to the death's room door and grasped the handle. "And death is expecting you."

He cracked open the door, light spilling into the dim hallway. Jamie gulped and Emmie grit her teeth.

D.K. held the door open and ushered them inside. Jamie stood there, fascinated by the room they'd stepped into. There weren't any walls, just a floor and a seemingly endless dirt area surrounding them. The sky was filled with small clouds and crosses littered the ground, sticking up at odd angles.

A single black cloaked figure stood in front of a full length mirror placed at the end of the flooring. The figure turned and revealed a man with three white half stripes on the left side of his head. His eyes were gold, boring into Emmie and Jamie.

Jamie paled, but Emmie simply walk forwards to the man. She cleared her throat and flipped her hair away.

"Hello kid, nice see you again."

And D.T.K. Enters the story! 3 (yay!) I've been waiting to introduce another one of the original soul eater characters in the story, I'm happy things have finally allowed Kidd to enter. I got a question earlier about who D.K.'s mom is and since it'll be a little while before she shows up I'll say now.

It's liz.

I like the kidd/liz pairing a lot. So that's what happened. Lotuswolf95, sorry for making your OC lose, but it's a sacrifice to move the story line forwards. I hope that you've all enjoyed After Spartoi up to now, and I'm pleased greatly by the comments you guys leave. Please follow and favourite!


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12! oh my god, i didn't think I'd come this far. (not kidding) thank you all for your support, i promise to continue this story until it's done! Now for death the kid scenes! (joy! Been waiting to bring him in!)

"Hello Kidd, nice to see you again," Emmie said, staring him down. "It's been what, three years?"

Kidd was silent for a moment, then spoke. "Yes, it has been three years since i forbade you from being on school property until you became a student."

"Could someone tell me what's going on?" Jamie said from the door way. He no clue what to do in this situation.

Emmie sighed and turned to him. "I thought it would be obvious, this is Kidd. More commonly addressed as "Lord Death". He's an old family friend."

"Lord Death!?" Jamie shouted. "You never told me you knew lord Death!"

"You never asked," Emmie deadpanned. Jamie face palmed. Emmie turned back to Kidd/Lord Death. "So what's this all about? Why'd ya call us up here?"

"I wanted to discuss your recent activities," Kidd said, he walked closer Emmie. His black cloak trailing behind him. "I was told by Nigus of your black blood awakening. I was also told you went on a rampage and slaughtered twenty teens."

Emmie flinched at his words. "It wasn't unprovoked. I needed to defend myself."

"It doesn't matter, you not only caused injury to those teens, but also broke one of the medical bays windows!" Kidd shouted at her, furious.

Jamie was even more confused now. "Your concerned about the windows? Not the gang?"

"Here it comes..." D.K. whispered to Jamie.

"Who cares about those ruffians! She destroyed the symmetry of the school!" Kidd pointed at Emmie incredulously. "How could you do that!?"

"It was just one window!"

"Exactly! If you were going to break the windows, you could have broken them symmetrically!"Kidd was turning red at this point.

"Who would do that!?" Emmie yelled back at him. "Besides, consider it pay back for having your son spy on us!"

"Wait, D.K. is his son!?" Jamie sputtered. D.K. nodded, confirming this. Jamie threw his hands up. "And you didn't tell me this WHY!?"

"I couldn't tell!" Emmie yelled back. "There's a bunch of shinigami wannabes running around here! I couldn't tell if he was legit or a fan-boy!"

"You could have at least told that you were suspicious!"

"I'm not a fan-boy!" D.K. yelled. Now everyone in the room was screaming about one thing or another. Kidd was ranting about the need for symmetry, D.K. was protesting his none fan-boy status, and Jamie and Emmie were fighting over whether or not she should have told Jamie about her suspicions.

"_**SHUT UP!"**_ Emmie screamed. "I CAN'T HERE MYSELF THINK!"

Thankfully, the three guys shut up. Emmie sighed in relief. "Now, Kidd, why did you send D.K. to spy on us?"

"I needed to know if you ad your partner were in control or not," Kidd said, readjusting his tie. "I didn't know whether or not to treat you as a threat or a student."

"Couldn't you have asked us yourself?" Emmie frowned. "And not send your kid to spy on family friends?"

"I'm older than you!" D.K. raged. "You should treat me with respect!"

"Oh yeah? Then why are you shorter than me?" Emmie said glaring down at him. D.K. was indeed shorter then her, by about three inches. (note: remember people, D.T.K. Was short until later on as well. So it makes sense that D.K. would be short too.)

_'I think they forgot I'm here,' _Jamie sweat dropped as he watched a grown man and two teenagers fight like grade school kids.

Suddenly Kidd stopped yelling and stormed over to his son. He grabbed D.K.'s ear and tugged on it.

"What is this? A single earring?! Where did you get this!?"

"I got it today! Ow! Your tearing my earlobe off!" D.K. struggled in his fathers iron grip.

"I will not have an asymmetrical son!" Kidd yelled. "We're getting the other one pierced right now!"

"No way! Then I'll look like a girl!"

"Then why did you get it in the first place!?"

"To piss you and your asymmetrical hair off!"

Kidd let go of his sons ear and fell over. He lay on the ground twitching and moaning.

"Your right! I'm asymmetrical garbage! I don't deserve to exist!" Kidd cried salty tears onto the floor.

"Uh..." Jamie had no words.

"He has severe OCD, he can't stand anything that isn't symmetrical," Emmie explained as Kidd writhed on the floor. "That includes his hair."

D.K. hid his face behind his hands in shame. This was so embarrassing. "You guys can go now."

"We can? That's it?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah, i don't think my dad is going to be doing anything for a while," D.K. pulled out his cellphone and muttered something about "Calling Aunt Patti" and "Stupid idea".

Emmie and Jamie slunk out of the room, leaving the awkward family to their issues. They shut the door to the death room tight and left the school. It was close to sun set now, the mad sun hanging low in the sky.

"That was really weird," Jamie said as they climbed down the steps.

"Everyone my family knows is weird."

**Line Break**

Next day Emmie and Jamie were sitting in their desks listening to Tsubaki talk about some of the previous death scythes. D.K. was no where to be seen.

_'Now that we've figured out who he is, i doubt we'll be seeing him again,'_ Jamie thought. D.K. hadn't been all that bad, with the exception of spying on them. He hadn't really gotten to know anyone else besides Emmie and D.K.; he was a little sad to see him go. Oh well, maybe they'd meet up again in the future.

The door to the classroom opening distracted Jamie form his thoughts and Emmie from her day dreaming. D.K. stepped into the room, followed by two girls; a pixie bob blonde and a tall purple haired.

"Ah, D.K. Your late," Tsubaki said. "Were you held up?"

"You could say that," D.K. grumbled back. Emmie caught sight of two blue gems on his ears as he took his seat in front of them.

She smirked and leaned down to him. "So you lost the argument~?"

"Shut up."

"Don't such a tight wad D.K." The blonde scolded. She turned and looked up at Emmie and Jamie. "Hi, I'm Madison Parker, I'm a .44 Magnum."

"I'm Serena Cox, Bor Rifle," The purple haired girl chimed in. "We're D.K.'s weapons."

"I thought that since we'd figured things out..." Jamie trailed off.

"You'd never see him again?" Madison finished. She smiled. "That was going to happen, but D.K. is getting punished for messing up his house again."

"So what if i moved the furniture? Doesn't mean he had to enrol me here," D.K. muttered.

Emmie chuckled and Jamie smiled in spite of himself. Tsubaki shot them a look and the five of them quieted down. Jamie leaned back and smiled happily.

_'This is certainly going to be an interesting semester...'_

From outside the window to the classroom a bat watch carefully, observing and memorizing the faces of his targets. The blue haired man in the corner suddenly looked straight at him. The bat screeched and flew away, frantically flapping his little wings. He flew to the very outskirts of Death City into the beloved arms of his owner.

She smiled as she played with his black fur. "Did you learn your targets faces?"

"_Scree, scree!"_

"Good, now we can move forwards with the plan," She said, smiling sadly. "They were just promoted..."

She sat down on her broom and rose into the air, her pink and black skirt fluttering in the breeze. She tipped her black-rimmed witch hat to the midday sun. She sighed and spoke aloud.

"So sad, finally they can fight... and now they have to die."

Oh wow, ominous much. Next chapter i finally get to write some real violence! (yes!) Sorry to all the death the kid fans for making D.T.K. Act ridiculous, (those are my favourite parts of his character), and does anyone else feel a little bad for D.K.? :3

please follow and favourite! And don't forget to leave comments! 3


	14. Chapter 13

Mya ha! Sorry for the late up date! :3 (been _very_ busy) I've been feeling the need for some confrontation between the good characters rather than just the opposing side. So that's how this chapter is going to go. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: i don't own any of the original Soul Eater characters.

Shiro grunted in effort as he did his thirtieth sit up in a row. He and Aria were training in the Shibusen gym, they had been for the last hour; or at least Shiro had, Aria was reading a magazine on the bench.

"Can we leave yet?" Aria whined. She was bored out of her mind, one can read the same magazine only so many times. "I can't take listening to your huffing and puffing much longer."

"Shut, **huff, **up. I need, **huff**, to beat, **huff**, that guy!" Shiro gasped to his partner. He couldn't believe himself, losing to a newbie so badly? It was humiliating, and still was. He couldn't walk down the hall without someone making a jeer at him.

"Could we take a break then?"

"You haven't done anything!" Shiro exclaimed. He got up off the floor regardless; as determined as he was, he still got tired like anyone else.

"Don't feel so bad," Aria consoled her meister. "Considering that guy was the White Demon's meister, it doesn't really surprise me he's powerful in battle."

"Still! He only started a little while ago," Shiro said. He chugged his water before continuing. "If i can win against them again then I'll be respected again."

"Are you sure about that, going up against the White Demon is a bit... audacious," Aria warned. She'd heard the rumours about that girl, the youngest weapon to ever activate, not to mention the daughter of one of the most powerful weapon and meister pairing to graduate from D.W.M.A. "You saw what she did to Daniel, it only took her a few minutes to figure out his style and weaknesses."

"Not to mention her involvement in that gang fight last week..."

The echoing sound of the doors on the other side of the gym opening distracted the two. (note: the gym is something of a cross between the X-men's danger room and a normal gymnasium. Just really big.) Shiro suddenly pulled Aria down behind some stacked equipment.

"Wha-" Aria began, but Shiro shushed her and pointed at who had come in.

"Well speak of the devil..." Aria whispered. Emmie and Jamie had come in for some time alone to practice with Emmie in her scythe form.

"Ready?" Emmie asked, cracking her knuckles.

"Yup."

Emmie glowed brightly and reshaped her body. Flying up and into Jamie's waiting hands, the glow burst away and revealed Emmie's intimidating weapon form. Shiro and Aria stifled gasps as Jamie held the great scythe close, swinging the scythe and beginning their work out. Jamie twisted and turned, swinging Emmie about easily. He used the scythe's full reach, taking advantage of the vast amount of space that the gym had to offer.

Switching the scythe from hand to hand, Jamie got faster with each swing and step. Finally he did a final leap and swung the scythe in a three sixty in the air. He landed with ease, barely out of breath. It was getting easier for him to use Emmie in training.

He felt they were about ready for actual battle.

"You have that look again," Emmie chided from her reflection in the scythe.

"What look?"

"The one you get when we get something right. Your thinking about actual battle aren't you?" Emmie said as she transformed back.

"No... maybe."

"Ha!" Emmie laughed.

"But seriously, i think we could really-"

"Uh, uh. Not yet, we need to work harder before we even think about fighting as a pair in _actual_ battle," Emmie said forcefully. She knew that they had gotten a lot stringer, but she didn't think they'd be able to do much in the field. Besides, they hadn't even fought together yet. Up til now, it had been separate fights for both of them. That, and she didn't really feel up to showing off her weapon form yet.

"Fine..." Jamie said, following his partner out of the gym.

Shiro stood up after the door had shut. He smiled widely.

"You have a plan..." Aria said warily.

"Yes! I have their weakness!" Shiro exclaimed. "All we have to do is challenge them to a team battle and we'll beat them like that!"

"This is a bad idea..."

"It'll work!"

**line break**

"Please listen up!" Tsubaki celled to her students. "It's time to separate into different groups. Please follow me for team battles."

Emmie yawned, she'd had yet another nightmare last night. The black blood was relentless. But it had been calmer lately, less aggressive.

_'Maybe it'll finally leave me alone...'_ Emmie thought quietly, hoping that this would come to pass. She started for the individual sparring group when Shiro blocked her path.

"Hello Esmeralda," Shiro said grinning. "Care to fight me today?"

"Why? So you can get beaten by the same team twice?" Emmie smirked, digging at his wounded pride.

"This time will be different!"

"Sure~ Sure~" Emmie said sweetly. "I'll fight you, I suppose. No skin off my back."

"Good," Shiro began in the opposite direction of individual sparring. "Follow me then."

"But the sparring mat is-"

"Who said anything about this being a one on one battle?" Shiro grinned wider. It took a moment for it to sink in fully, then Emmie pieced it all together.

"You! You tricked me!" Emmie sputtered. Jamie came over to see what his partner was so enraged about.

"What's going-" Jamie began, but Emmie grabbed his sleeve and began ranting about her being tricked.

"I can't believe-how could- GAH!" Emmie threw her hands up into the air. Here wasn't any way out of this mess. She'd accepted the stupid challenge and now she had to follow through.

"Why are you screaming now?" D.K. said coming over to his friend. Madison and Serena were close behind.

"She got tricked into a team battle with Shiro here," Jamie translated Emmie's rants for the rest of them.

"Ah... and that's a problem why?" Serena asked.

"She doesn't think we're ready yet."

"No use fighting about it," Aria said, popping out from behind Shiro. "We should just get it over with."

"..." Emmie scowled deeply at the boy in front of her. She knew full well that fighting about it wasn't going to change things. They were going to have to fight a team battle whether she wanted to or not.

"Tsubaki-sensei, Emmie and Jamie have agreed to a team battle with me and Aria~" Shiro said happily to his teacher. Tsubaki gave Emmie a look of confusion, went along with it.

"Alright, I'm assuming you know the rules?" She asked the two teams. They were now assembled on the mats, preparing to fight. Jamie and Shiro nodded. Emmie's scowl deepened and Aria looked bored. "Weapons may transform now."

"Aria!"

"Yeah, yeah," Aria was enveloped in a bright glow and shifted into her weapon form. She thinned and stretched into a long katana blade, a long black blade and black and gold handle.

"Emmie...?" Jamie said hopefully, not sure if his partner was going to comply.

"Don't act like you're not excited," She sighed, following Aria's example and shifting into her weapon form. The crowd was silent, estatic to see the famed White Demon's weapon form. They gasped in awe of her impressive size and shape. Jamie held her up for all to see, flashing her black and green blade about in the light.

"Ready?" Tsubaki counted to three out loud and then shouted out. "GO!"

Shiro yelled and charged Jamie, bringing the black katana up in a slash at Jamie's chest. Jamie lept backwards and narrowly avoided the attack.

"Hiya!" Shiro yelled and swung the katana again and again, getting closer to hitting Jamie each time.

"Get it together!" Emmie yelled at Jamie.

"Trying!" Jamie dodged another vicious attack from Shiro, he could counter, but it was difficult to fight with a big weapon in a small space. (Note: the mat about twenty feet by twenty feet, not a whole lot of room.) But he needed fight back, he couldn't keep dodging forever. Shiro was even better now that he had his weapon.

"Come on you two!" Madison called to them. Serena made a halfhearted shout for them, but didn't really put effort into it.

D.K. watched with some interest. Jamie was being beaten back easily, he hadn't even fought back yet. D.K. wasn't enjoying watching his friend be beaten so quickly, but Emmie on the other hand... she had it coming in his opinion. Regardless of his opinion, Jamie needed to start fighting for real soon, or they were going to lose. He went up to Tsubaki and whispered his idea to her.

"Could everyone take a few steps back, please?" Tsubaki called out. The class stepped back about ten feet, giving Jamie the room he need to fight.

"Perfect," Jamie said and began his own assault. He blocked Shiro's attack with the long staff of his scythe, and thrust him backwards. Shiro barely had time to bring his katana in a block to avoid being split in half by Jamie's downward slash. The blades sparked against each other, both meister pushing with all their might.

Shiro broke away, leaping forwards at Jamie's stomach. Jamie used the staff to swing himself out of harms way, he twirled the scythe around and used Emmie's double edge blade to attack in an unending whirl.

"Go Jamie!" Madison called. The rest of the students joined in, cheering for both sides to fight harder.

_'No way, i thought she said they weren't ready for combat,'_ Shiro thought frantically, blocking another deadly slash of the scythe meister. _'I'll have to get serious then.'_

"Aria! We need to resonate!" He yelled to his weapon.

"Right!"

"**Let's go soul resonance!" **They both yelled. Aria's form shortened and curved into a black claw that attached itself to Shiro's gloved hand. (Note: they're fingerless gloves) Their souls touched and light exploded.

The tip of the claw made a sizzling sound and began glowing red. Shiro yelled out the name of the attack as he ran full speed at Jamie. "**_Stinging claw!_**"

The resonance had given Shiro and extra boost in speed and Jamie was just able to side step him at the last minute; but the claw caught his shoulder. Jamie cried out as he felt his skin burn from the touch.

"No resonance attacks!" Tsubaki yelled to the fighting meisters. No one heard her, by now the entire class, including the individual battle group, was gathered around the mat. Cheering ad screaming for each side.

"This isn't going well for them," Serena remarked. The purple haired teen flipped her medium length locks over her shoulder, she didn't really care for the out come, but she was worried that someone might get seriously hurt now. Especially since Emmie had that huge power hiding inside...

"It'll be fine Serena," D.K. said calmly. "If Jamie and Emmie can figure out how to work together in the next few minutes, they may be able to turn the fight."

"Are you sure this is a good idea, letting them fight?"

"We'll know soon," D.K. joined in the cheering for Jamie. He wanted him to win now.

"Emmie, we're losing!" Jamie said through gritted teeth, his shoulder was making it difficult to concentrate.

"I know! I have eyes, ya know!" Emmie shot back.

"We need to try resonating."

"No! What if we end up like last time!?"

"It won't!"

"How do you know!?"

"I don't!" Jamie ducked as Shiro nearly clipped his nose. "But we have to try!"

_'He's right Emmie dear, you'll lose at this rate...'_ Fake Emmie's voice floated in the back of Emmie's mind.

_'I know full well what will happen if i let us resonate. You'll attack his soul again!'_ Emmie thought angrily at the black blood.

_'Ara, ara, i promise to not this time~'_ The blood replied. _'I don't want to work with _him,_ but i hate losing more.'_

Jamie cussed as Shiro caught him on his side. Emmie gritted her sharp teeth, she'd trust it this one time.

_'I you even think about trying anything...'_ Emmie warned the black blood. It laughed and disappeared, back into the depths of her soul. Emmie called out to Jamie. "Fine! We'll try to resonate!"

"About time," Jamie huffed, smiling. _**"Let's go, soul resonance!"**_

Emmie let Jamie's soul find hers. She felt it, and reached out for it. Their souls made contact. Emmie tensed, waiting for the throw back of pain. But instead came power to both of them, easing Jamie's tired limbs and strengthening his attacks. He smiled as Emmie's blade hummed with new energy.

Shiro took a step back from them, now realizing the situation he was in.

"Might want to get ready," Jamie said, his hair whipping around in the wind. "I don't know if i have complete control yet."

Jamie raised the scythe high, it now was practically singing. The blade vibrating up and down, the green marks glowing brightly. Jamie smirked as he shouted out the attack's name. _**"Vibration blade!"**_

He swung the blade down and nearly hit Shiro, missing by an inch. There was a cracking sound and a huge slash mark appeared on the floor, going through the mat and into the concrete below.

No one spoke, shocked by the development of the fight.

"No way..." Shiro breathed as Jamie raised the scythe, readying for another attack. Jamie wasn't smiling now, his face was stone; no emotion showing, his blue eyes cold. He swung down at Shiro, but Shiro disappeared in a blur. Jamie looked around confused, wondering were his opponent had gone.

"Aren't you getting a little carried away, Jamie?" Blackstar said from behind him. Blackstar had darted in at the last moment and grabbed Shiro, who now lay on the floor beside him breathing heavily.

"Oh... I guess your right," Jamie said, returning to his usual self. "I think i got a bit excited."

"Incredible..." D.K. breathed. Not only had they resonated, but had attacked successfully. But Jamie had gotten weird for a moment, dangerously weird... D.K. shook his head, chalking it up to just be a one time thing. This was their first time fighting together after all.

The crowd broke silence and cheered, screaming the names of the two meisters.

"**SHIRO! JAMIE!"**

"**SHIRO! JAMIE!"**

Tsubaki stormed over to Jamie and now human Emmie. "WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING? There are no resonance attacks allowed in sparring matches!"

"Chill out, no one got to badly hurt," Emmie said nonchalantly. Still feeling the high of a resonance. She poked Jamie's burn to prove her point. He yelped in response. "See, he'll heal."

"Tell that to the floor," Tsubaki said, pointing at the severely damaged mat/concrete.

"Um... I'll pay you back?" Emmie said hopefully. Tsubaki shook her head. "Ugh, your not going to make us go see Kidd are you?"

"That's exactly what your going to do, right after you apologize to Shiro and Aria."

"For what?"

"For nearly killing them!"

"They're fine," Emmie muttered, but Tsubaki stared her down. Emmie sighed and began pulling her slightly injured partner away, Jamie kept saying "ouch!" the entire time.

"You guys okay?" Jamie asked as he nursed his burns. "I'm sorry if i almost hurt you, that was the first time we've successfully resonated."

"Really? I hadn't guessed," Shiro muttered his response. Aria elbowed him, reminding him to be a little more polite. "Oof!"

"What he means to say is that you guys won fair and square," Aria said. She arched an eyebrow. "Was that really your first time?"

"Yeah," Emmie replied. "Why?"

"That was pretty powerful someone's first time, even for you guys."

"I agree," D.K. said, coming over to the group; Serena and Madison followed. "Haven't seen someone use such a powerful resonance in a long time."

"Don't talk like your some wise old man, D.K." Emmie teased the black and white haired teen. _'Thank god the black blood didn't interfere this time.'_

_'I kept my promise didn't i~?'_ The black blood said, responding to it's name.

_'Shut up and go back to sleep,'_ Emmie thought huffily.

**Line break**

In the end, Shiro accepted his defeat and they'd all gone out for an early supper. After they'd patched up the two meisters of course, Shiro saying he was fine and resisting hadn't helped the process along, but they all finally made it out. (they'd convinced Kidd to let Emmie and Jamie off for that day only.) They left each other on good terms, Shiro promised no more sneaky tricks and Emmie promised to stop resisting team battles. Emmie had gotten a call later that night form Kidd about Jamie and her getting an up grade to one star. She'd been over joyed, she celebrated by playing her electric guitar late into the night.

It was now about noon-ish and Emmie and Jamie were standing in front of the job wall, trying to pick an easy mission for their first time.

"How about this one-" Jamie began.

"No, to many issues." Emmie rejected it.

"But it seems-"

"No!"

"No to what?" A voice questioned from behind them. The two turned to see a girl with spiky brown pigtails and Daniel hiding behind her.

"Hey Daniel, who's your friend?" Emmie asked, amused by the boy's ever odd behaviour.

"I'm Olivia Knight, I'm his weapon," Olivia said, introducing herself in the place of her cowardly meister. "Nice fight yesterday. I heard you got promoted to one star."

"Yeah, but we still have to give up money from our jobs to pay for the replacement of the mats. Not to mention the concrete repairs..." Emmie rubbed her temples, she could just see the money flying away.

"In short, you both won and lost at the same time."

"Basically," Jamie said, he smiled. "Though it should be easy enough, we'll just work at it."

"A-are you s-sure?" Daniel quavered. "G-going solo o-on a f-first mission."

"We'll be fine," Emmie said, brushing his worries off. "Hey, i never apologized for our fight. I didn't mean to get so rough, i wasn't used to your style so i put a little to much power behind tat attack."

"I-it's okay, t-that's just how individual b-battles go," Daniel smiled from behind his orange bangs.

"So back to which job we're going on-" Jamie was cut off by a scream from down the hall.

"Kyaaaa! There's a _bat_ in the school!" A girl cried out as she came barrelling down the hallway. A mass panic ensued, the NOT class students scattered and ran while the EAT class kids readied to catch it.

It came down the hall, flapping about it's big brown wings. It was about the size of a school desk, pretty big for a bat if you think about it. It flew down towards Emmie and the others. Olivia screeched and Daniel panicked, Jamie ducked and Emmie simply moved aside as it flew past her. It flew another few seconds before it ran into the job board, knocking posters and signs to the ground.

"Gah!" Emmie yelled as the bat swooped down and hit her on the head with it's clawed feet, pulling pieces of her white hair away with it. "You stupid flying bas-"

Emmie was cut short by the entire job wall falling on top of her, Jamie, Olivia, and Daniel. Jamie reached up and with Daniel's help, held it up. Other meisters and weapons came to their aid, lifting the wood off of their fellow students.

"You okay?" Jamie asked his friends after they'd crawled out.

"I think that bat forgot to take the rest of my scalp," Emmie muttered angrily, rubbing her sore head.

"I'm fine," Olivia said brightly.

"M-me t-too."

"That was weird," Jamie muttered. Bats weren't supposed to act like that, at least he thought they weren't. He noticed something stuck to Emmie's back. "Hey, you have something on you."

"What?" Emmie said twisting around to see, she grabbed it off her back and held it out to see. It was a poster for a Kishin investigation, located in New York city. The reward was hefty, more than enough to pay back for the damage.

"This is perfect!" Jamie said. "It's easy, no real fighting required, and it'll pay of our debt!"

"Lucky you, we probably would have taken it if we'd seen it first," Olivia joked. Emmie smiled, without meaning to she'd made another friend. Things were finally going her way, she could resonate freely with Jamie, the black blood was cooperating with her for once, she had new friends, and they'd been promoted to one star and they could now go on jobs. Not to mention their first job was going to be easy as pie.

"Good luck on your job you two," Olivia smiled and began pulling Daniel away from the chaos. She wanted to get out of there before someone asked her to help clean up. "We're gonnagonowsobye!"

Before Emmie and Jamie could reply, their two friends disappeared in a rush of flailing legs, (Olivia running), and arms, (Daniel being dragged by the collar/choked.)

**Line Break!**

"Wasss the bait placcced?" Venom asked with a hiss. The bat had returned to his loving owner once more, telling of his success.

"Yes venom, Scree gave them the poster," She replied curtly.

Venom smiled widely, pleased by the this news. It was all going according to plan, and they had fallen into it so easily.

"Um, Venom, i know that this is what you wanted, but i heard that they are exceptionally powerful," The young witch fingered her dresses hem. "I'm worried that they may cause more trouble-agh!"

Venom had grabbed her by the throat and was slowly squeezing his hand tighter. "What trouble? Do you feel you will _lossse_ to thossse bratsss? Are you going to _fail_ me Jada?"

"No... Venom," Jada choked out. "I will not... fail... you..."

Venom released his grip and Jada fell to the ground coughing. "Good, you know what would happen if you failed me."

"I know," Jada replied weakly as Venom left the room. Scree fluttered to his owners side, worried for her safety. She whispered quietly to her little friend. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

She got up and dusted of her black and pink dress, fixed her hat, and fluffed back up her neon pink hair. "We'll find a way out of this one day," She said quietly, hugging Scree close. "I know we will."

New character! Jada has now been truly introduced in the story. I like her hair quite a bit, bright pink... about medium length... looks like bubble gum... whoops, got side tracked! Any way, i want to know what you guys think of her! 3 I'd also like to know your opinion on Venom. I think i have the psycho mucho crazy bad guy thing down pat. (he is very insane.) thank you for reading, please follow and favourite and comment! (my god! This chapter 9 pages!)


	15. Chapter 14

Late last night in the middle of my musings i realized that this has been a pretty long book so far, (i rarely come across a series that lasts more than ten chapters), and i also realized i have absolutely no intention of stopping any time soon. (but i may do a one shot at some point.) anyway please enjoy the fourteenth chapter of after Spartoi!

"Are you sure you have everything you need~?" Blair said, fussing over Emmie as she prepared to leave for her first job. "I don't want you to forget anything~"

"I'm fine Aunty Blair; really, i am," Emmie said calmly to the cat women. She was shoving the last of her packing into her white and black-rimmed back pack, she was supposed to meet Jamie at the air port in about 45 minutes. At this point, she was starting to worry a little about time, they had had to stay late after school to finish the filing for this job and Kidd had yelled at them for a solid ten minutes about destroying his perfectly symmetrical gym.

_'How does D.K. put up with that man?'_ Emmie thought to herself as she locked the door to her apartment.

"Nyaa~ I'm gonna miss you Em-Chan!" Blair said sadly. She hugged Emmie close as Emmie attempted to leave.

Emmie struggled out of her aunt's grasp and headed for the exit. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll bring home some souvenir fish for you, all right?"

"Th-that's bribery and you know it!" Blair called after Emmie as she descended the steps to the streets. Blair shifted into her cat form and peeked out of Emmie's window, (using the cat flap Emmie had installed when she'd moved in), and waved good bye with her moving hat. "See you in a few days Em-Chan!"

"Yeah, seeya," Emmie waved without looking back. Heading straight for the nearest bus stop.

**Line Break!**

Jamie tapped his foot nervously, he leaned back in the uncomfortable plastic chair; wondering where Emmie was. It was twenty to take off.

Suddenly the world went black as fabric covered his face. His cries of surprise were muffled by the cloth. He finally pulled it off and saw D.K., Madison, and Serena had come to see them off, as well as throw cloth at him.

"You guys came to see us off?" He asked, fixing his ruffled blonde hair.

"Yep, and we wanted to give you a congratulatory present," Madison said, smiling. "You don't wear a uniform, so we thought we'd get you a coat at least."

Jamie examined the large dark cloth closely for the first time, it was a large navy blue trench coat, with the D.W.M.A. Emblem stitched into it.

"I don't know what to say..." Jamie said, impressed with his gift.

"Don't say anything! Just put it on!" Serena encouraged.

Jamie slipped the coat over his shoulders and straightened it. Adjusting the collar, he admired his reflection in a window nearby.

"Woo~! Not bad Jamie!" Madison said, a playful grin on her face. She most definitely did not miss how manly Jamie looked in the coat, not only did it make him look older it also covered up his skinny-ish body; adding bulk.

"It has a hood too," D.K. said, pulling his friends hood up. The hood was big, casting a shadow over Jamie face and obscuring his eyes. "It's for concealing who you are and, of course, for rain protection."

"Ha, like I'll need to hide who i am," Jamie said, pulling the hood off. "But... the rain protection part will come in handy."

"Why are you all standing around? We have a plane to catch!" Emmie exclaimed, she'd snuck up on them all. She adjusted her back-pack, starting to feel the pressure of possibly missing a flight. "If we don't catch this one, i highly doubt Kidd will be so generous again."

"Your right," D.K. said, a smile twitched on his lips. "My father would not pay for you two to miss another flight."

"Just get going you two!" Madison yelled at them, pushing them on they're way.

"Alright, alright!" Jamie said. He and Emmie began to make their way through the crowded air port.

"Good luck!" Serena called after the pair. "Don't get killed!"

"Great advise!" Emmie yelled back. She smiled as they boarded their plane. Ready for whatever was coming next.

Their friends kept waving until they were gone from sight. When they'd disappeared, Serena slapped D.K. across the head.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

"Like you'd give out a present for no reason, you did something to the coat," She seemed to tower over D.K. (which she was doing any way, she's two heads taller than him) as she glared at him. D.K. wouldn't look her in the eye. "You definitely did something, didn't you?"

"You caught me," D.K. said, not bothering to hide this fact any longer. "I placed a type of madness sensor inside the lining of the coat."

"Why on earth would you do that D.K.?" Madison said, disappointed in her meister's sneaky act. "Emmie can control the blood, and they can resonate safely too. There wasn't any need to do that!"

"Didn't you notice too?" D.K. said, looking Madison straight in the eyes. "When they resonated, something was different about Jamie. Like he forgot what he was doing, who he was. If Blackstar hadn't intervened when he did, Shiro may have ended up headless!"

His partners were silent, taking in this news. Not one of them spoke further until they got home, simply letting the noise of the world fill the gap of silence.

**Line break**

"Hmmm..." Kidd stood in front of full length mirror in the Death room. He leaned in closer to the mirror. His gold eyes focused intently.

"Uh... what are you doing Kidd?" Blackstar asked his friend.

"I knew it!" Kidd suddenly yelled. He turned around so quickly, it probably gave him whiplash. "My eye brows are asymmetrical!"

"They're fine Kidd," Tsubaki said, trying to calm the hyperventilating man. "Even if they aren't the exact same,, I'm sure you can fix them."

"Your right," Kidd said, suddenly calming right down. He pulled out a pair of tweezers with flourish. "I will pluck them until i, Lord Death, have symmetry once again!"

"But you've never been symmetrical Kidd, remember, your hair?" Blackstar said laughing. Kidd froze, dropped the tweezers and fell over.

He pounded the floor yelling out nonsense. "Your right! I've always been asymmetrical garbage! I should just die!"

"Blackstar, stop making my husband cry," A voice said from behind him. Blackstar turned and saw , Liz Thompson. (she kept her last name because she thought "Liz Death" was too morbid) "I need him to be manly, not a crying wimp. And..." Liz turned to her sobbing husband. "Kidd, i thought we got past this whole 'breaking-down-when-not-everything-is-symmetrical- thing'."

"Your still so silly!" Patti said gleefully, popping out from behind her older sister.

"Patti, could you fix him please?" Liz pleaded to her younger sister. "We can't just stand around all day, waiting for him to recover."

"Sure thing!" Patti waltzed over to Kidd. She coughed and cleared her throat. She took a deep breath and spoke. **"GET YER ASS IN GEAR YA SISSY BOY!"**

"Y-yes ma'am!" Kidd yelped, leaping off the floor and standing stock straight.

"Thank you," Tsubaki said gratefully. Blackstar laughed heartily at his friend's strange reactions. Tsubaki whacked Blackstar lightly on the shoulder. "You caused that on purpose!"

"Yeah, so what? It was funny wasn't it?" Blackstar continued to laugh until Liz hit him across the back of his head.

"I may not be as good as Maka when it comes to that, but i can get the job done," Liz quipped as she removed her fist from the dent in Blackstar's head.

"Could we please get to what i called you all here for?" Kidd said impatiently.

_'But your what started this,'_ Everyone thought at the same time.

Kidd ignored their looks and began. "I asked you to come because we need to speak about what we are going to do about Emmie's black blood, and the possibility of it spreading to Jamie." He opened a laptop on a table, and pulled up a picture of Jamie's soul. "For the most part there has not been any incident, but Jamie's odd behaviour during combat class was worrying. My son notified me of this, but you two did not. Why is that, Tsubaki, Blackstar?"

"We, I, assumed it was a fluke. Perhaps a side affect from their first resonance," Tsubaki explained hurriedly. "I didn't think it was anything important. But i agree, it was a tad worrisome. I haven't seen him act like that before."

"Neither have i," Blackstar said, backing up his partner. "But i agree too, Shiro could have have been seriously hurt if i hadn't grabbed him."

"So why did you call me and Patti down, Kidd?" Liz asked. "We don't really have a part in this."

"You know of Emmie's condition, there for i believe you have a right to know what has been happening concerning her," Kidd replied. He moved over and grasped his wife's hand and squeezed it tight. "That and i have our son monitoring Jamie and Emmie, if i didn't tell you what he was doing right now you'd be angry."

"Ha! That's to say the least," Liz returned the hand squeeze. Much to her friends surprise, she'd become quite a helicopter mom over the years. When D.K. was younger, she'd been with him twenty four seven. It lasted till he was eight and he'd begun to protest her over protectiveness. Now she'd settled for keeping an eye on him through the school staff, who had no choice, but to cooperate for Liz was Death's wife. (can't really refuse, now can they?)

"Emmie and Jamie are heading for New York as of right now," Kidd said, his face turned grave as he spoke. "I had D.K. place a madness sensor inside Jamie's clothes, so that i could monitor them myself. I'm very concerned, Jamie, unlike Maka, does not have an anti-demon wavelength. If Emmie cannot control it..."

"Then Jamie may end up succumbing to the black blood," Tsubaki finished. This news did not bode well for the pair. Tsubaki spoke quietly. "So what can we do? We can't break the up, it would crush Emmie."

"All we can do is keep an eye on Jamie and give him regular check ups. If he begins to show signs, it is then that we will intervene with force," Kidd said gravely. He did not like the idea of having to take such measures if this did indeed come to pass, but it was his duty as Shinigami-sama to eliminate all threats regarding madness and evil; even if the threat came from the child of two of his best friends. "Please inform Maka and Soul of this news. I'm assuming you've already told them of Emmie's blood awakening?"

"I did the night it happened," Tsubaki replied. "I'll get right on it as soon as i have time."

Kidd nodded. "Good, you can all leave now."

"Seeya later Kidd!" Blackstar called as he and Tsubaki left with Patti and Liz.

"Call me Lord Death! You could show a little respect!"

"Not likely!"

Kidd sighed, left alone once again in the death room. _'Some peace and quiet at last. Though...'_ he thought with a smile. _'I wouldn't have minded if Liz had stayed.'_

The Shinigami laughed to himself. He moved back to his large and glorious chair in front of the mirror and sat down. He pulled up images of Death city in the mirror and began to watch the world go by, enjoying his position.

**Line Break!**

Later that evening Tsubaki pulled out a hand held mirror in her room, it was cold and stung her hand. She kept it in her freezer, so it would always be ready for her. She had finally finished up at school and could talk to her friends now. _'That is... if they'll pick up,'_ She thought sadly. Maka and Soul had been given a special type of job when they'd graduated. They moved around the globe constantly to deal with "special" cases of madness; as well as taking out witches that no other meister and weapon could handle. Maka's anti-demon wavelength had made her a perfect candidate for the job, and Soul was a particularly powerful death scythe. In a sense, they were the black ops of D.W.M.A. But their demanding job tended to keep them busy, so they rarely could answer her calls.

_'Let's hope this works...'_

Tsubaki took a deep breath and breathed onto the mirror, then rubbed in the phone number for Maka and Soul.

"485-55-95" Tsubaki hummed to herself. Glad that a few years back Kidd had invented a way for ordinary mirrors to work similar to how his own. "Please connect... please connect..."

"Hello?" A woman's voice answered.

"Maka!" Tsubaki cried. She smiled brightly at the face of her long time friend. "I'm so glad you picked up!"

"Me too, it's always nice to see you," Maka said, smiling brightly. "Even if it's only through a mirror."

"Where are you guys now?"

"I think we're some where in Indonesia, I can't tell; I think we're lost," Maka smiled slyly. "And just between me and you, It's Soul's fault we got lost."

"You have no sense of direction! It wasn't my fault!" A deep man's voice yelled form the background.

"This is your fault and you know it!" Maka yelled back.

"You two never change," Tsubaki chuckled. Her face fell when she remembered why she'd called in the first place.

Maka frowned, noticing Tsubaki's change in attitude. "What's wrong, did something happen?"

"Well..."

"This is about Emmie isn't it?" Maka guessed. When Tsubaki nodded Maka's frown grew, and her got sad. "Is she in trouble or is it the... blood?"

"What's going on?" Soul's albino face appeared beside Maka's. "What's happened Tsubaki?"

"Emmie and Jamie can resonate now."

"Really?! That's great!" Maka cheered.

"Wow, not bad Emmie," Soul smirked, showing his sharp teeth.

"But..." Tsubaki trailed off.

"But what?" Soul asked.

"The black blood... it could could..." Maka grew sad as it began to make sense. "It could infect Jamie. He doesn't have the same kind of wavelength as me. Unlike when you were infected, Soul, Jamie can't protect himself. If it gets into his system he may give into it."

"Yes, that's i called you," Tsubaki confirmed. "Kidd wanted you to know about this development."

"Well, there's nothing we can do," Soul said nonchalantly. He began walking away from Maka and the mirror.

"Soul wait! What do you mean?!" Maka called after him.

His voice was fainter, but Tsubaki understood easily. "We're on the other side of the world Maka, we can't really do anything. I want to help Emmie as much as you do, but we can't. And besides, she's a student now. In high-school and old enough to solve this herself."

"But she's only fifteen, we got lot's of help when we we're her age!"

"And she has just as much help there. We may not be able to help her directly, but i trust our friends to keep her safe."

Maka smiled sadly at Tsubaki. "I guess he's right right, Keep an eye on my girl won't you?"

"Of course i will," Tsubaki replied. "We all will."

"Thanks," Maka said. Brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes. "Hey, has Emmie tried to contact us recently? Has she even asked about us at all?"

"No... I'm sorry Maka. I don't think she's forgiven you guys yet."

"It's to be expected, we did kinda leave her alone," Maka said, her voice laced in regret.

"You know that's not true, Maka. You only left her because it's too dangerous to bring her with you. You don't need to feel so guilty. I'm sure-"

"That she'll forgive us some day?" Maka cocked an eye brow. "I think it'll take more than just time for that wound to heal. But thanks for telling us about her. Tell her i said i miss her... both of us."

"Sure," Tsubaki said as the mirror went black. She sat in the quiet of her room, wishing she could help her dear friend. "Oh Maka..." She whispered.

That ended a lot more depressing than i thought it would. I actually planned on making this a short chapter, but... well, stuff happened. (oh well, more for you guys to read.)

Maka and Soul make their first appearance! (sort of) hooray! I'm glad they get to join in on the fun now. Hey, readers... i don't know much about New York so could you all leave comments about it? I need some reference. Please Follow, Favourite, and Comment!


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen! The big one five. I hope you've all enjoyed the story thus far, and i don't plan on stopping for a long time to come. In the next little while I'm going to ask for an OC for a witch. I'll need her name, looks, and type of magic. (plus all the usual stuff) she'll play a big part in the events to come so i need her to start planning now. Please send an OC in!

"Geez, and here i thought New York was supposed to be wonderful or some shit," Emmie grumbled as yet another person shoved against her. They were on the subway, heading for their hotel. The plane had touch down about two hours ago, but it had taken them a full hour to coordinate a pick by a Shibusen representative. In the end, it turned out the representative had taken a vacation the day before they'd arrived. They had ended up having to walk to the nearest subway station in rush hour. It had taken three near hit and runs before they finally made it down to lower levels of New York. Now Emmie and Jamie were being jostled about by angry looking people in a too small train car.

"Well, looks can be deceiving, but I'm sure the hotel will be better," Jamie offered Emmie a wry smile, but she just scowled deeper. Jamie sighed and tried to move into a more comfortable spot, rather than being mushed into the wall by a hefty man. He squeezed through the mesh of people and over to Emmie. Suddenly, someones foot darted out and tripped Jamie. He stumbled and landed against Emmie, there chests touching.

Emmie looked like she wanted to scream, but held it in; they were in a very awkward situation, she didn't want to draw any more attention then she already was, (remember, she's an albino. You don't see one to often.)

"Get. Off." She said in a yell whisper, her teeth gritted together.

"I'm trying!" Jamie yell whispered back. The subway car suddenly stopped moving and even more people got on. The added bodies pushed the two partners even closer together; their faces now inches from each other. "Uh... sorry...?" Jamie said hopefully.

Emmie didn't answer, but her face said everything. She was going to murder him once they got off. A fierce blush covered both of their faces. Even though he felt bad about it, Jamie couldn't help, but notice that Emmie's chest was rather... soft.

They stood like that for another ten minutes before enough people got off for Jamie to move away. They found seats and sat down, Emmie hugged her backpack close and Jamie held his suit case on his lap. Neither spoke for a while.

"Let's never speak of this again," Emmie finally said. Jamie nodded vigorously. "Agreed."

Time ticked by, twenty minutes and counting of silence (minus the noises of the crowd around them). Jamie couldn't stand the heavy silence between them, so he began to rack his brains for something to make it up to her. "Emmie... uh... how about... i take you out for dinner today?"

Emmie didn't look at him.

"My treat?"

Emmie still didn't turn to face him, but replied. "Your treat?"

"My treat. I'll pay for it all."

"Good, 'cause i hear some places a _really_ expensive." Emmie said, a mischievous smile curled on her face.

Jamie smiled too, glad that his partner had forgiven him for the most part, even if this particular incident hadn't been all his fault. '_But...'_ He smiled inwardly. _'That wasn't all bad.'_

It was another hour before they got off the subway.

**Line Break!**

"That was stupidly long," Emmie growled. Her stomach followed her growl. They made it to the hotel in one piece for the most part. If there was one advantage to attending Shibusen, it was that you could travel to anywhere in the world and Kidd would have already set up a place for you to stay. Her room was spacious, nice furnishings and the sheets look very inviting. She was tired and hungry, it'd taken too much effort just to make it here.

Emmie flopped down on her bed, running the events of the day through her mind. Jamie... him stumbling... him landing on her... their chests...

Emmie shook her head, banishing the thoughts. They were the last thing she needed to think about right now.

_'Focus on mission. That's right, focus on the mission,'_ Emmie reminded herself. The door handle to the room shook, Emmie tensed, someone was trying to get in. She got low to the ground and moved stealthily to the door. She activated her scythe blades and held her bladed hand up, ready for a fight.

The door squeaked open and Emmie struck.

"Gah! I'm come in peace! I come in peace!" Jamie yelled out, Emmie's blade hand was inches from his neck. If Emmie hadn't stopped he'd be headless now.

"What do you want," Emmie said, pulling her blades from his throat. The flashed and disappeared. "Don't you have your own room?"

"Actually, i don't," Jamie said. He pulled his suit case inside, and set it down on the second bed. "It turns out that our accommodations were for us to share a room."

"Wha-Kidd!" Emmie yelled at the Shinigami.

**Line Break!**

Far away, back in Nevada, the Shinigami's ear twitched. He turned around in a circle, searching for the sound. "Hm? Emmie?" Shrugging, he went back to forcing his plants to be symmetrical.

**Line Break!**

"I can't believe-that fucking-ugh!" Emmie raged as she paced the floor of their room.

"Calm down, it's only for a few days right?" Jamie said. "If you keep yelling someones going to complain and we'll get kicked out."

"Shut up you," Emmie turned and glared at him. "Your gonna have to buy me some _really, really expensive _food now."

Jamie winced, he could just see his money flying away. "So... room service or take out?"

"Neither, your taking me to a good restaurant. In fact..." Emmie whipped a piece of paper out from the depths of her bag. "I happen to have a list of restaurants that are popular."

Jamie looked at the list, almost every one of the places listed were first class. "Your going to need to buy small portions okay?"

"Fine, but i get to pick what." Emmie grabbed her black jean jacket from the closet, where she'd dumped most of her things. She slung it on, a white skull glinted on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get going."

"Kay," Jamie said, grabbing his trench coat and wallet and followed her out.

**Line Break****!**

D.K. sipped his black coffee, watching the feed of information waves move on the computer screen. They flashed and gleamed in the dark room. D.K. smiled, please by his success. Light suddenly came pouring in and D.K. hissed at the brightness.

"Oh enough with the drama D.K. Your a death god, not a vampire," Serena said, waltzing into D.K.'s room. "Having fun spying on your friends?"

"I'll have you know i can only see the Jamie's wavelength right now," D.K. huffed at his weapon partner.

"I'm betting it has a camera too."

"Maybe."

"D.K. I'm not only telling you this as a partner, but as a friend too. You need to stop doing this, even if Lord Death told you to you can't spy on your friends. It's rude and it leads to distrust," Serena put a hand on his shoulder. "Please, it's for your own good."

"I wish i didn't have to, but this is a part of my job," D.K. took a swing of his coffee. "If my father asks me to do this, i will. When they find out I'll apologize."

"Yeah, but will you be forgiven?" Serena left the room, leaving the brooding death god in the dark; alone again.

**Line Break!**

"Wow, do people ever sleep here?" Emmie wondered aloud. They were walking around a mall district, it was still filled with people despite it being close to ten.

"Well, it is called the city that never sleeps," Jamie said. "It would make sense if there was reason behind that name. So where are we going?"

Emmie pulled the list and peered at it. "Hmmm... there's a lot to pick from."

"Let me see," Jamie leaned in close. He examined the list and recognized an address. "Hey, this ones in the area where we're supposed to investigate."

"We're eating there aren't we?"

"Might as well do some recon while we eat," Jamie grinned. "Not like you can complain, it's a five star restaurant. Come on, let's catch a taxi."

After a ride across town they arrived at their destination. The restaurant's name was_ Gourmet Ala mode, _people in expensive dresses and suits came and went from the front doors which were held open by classy looking door men.

"I feel under dressed," Emmie stated as they walked up to the impressive double doors.

"We'll be fine," Jamie insisted. "I know how to handle this."

They went inside with little trouble, only getting an odd look from the door men. It was when the moved to go further in they were stopped.

"There are no children allowed in this restaurant," A man with a ridiculously funny looking moustache said. He pushed them back towards the door.

"I'm sure you can make an exception tonight," Jamie said. He moved in front of Emmie. "I assure you we can pay."

"Feh! As if you could. Now scurry away before i call security!" He huffed at them. He turned and began to walk away, his cowboy moustache bouncing with each stride he took.

"I don't think your employer will be pleased to hear that you turned away _the son of the Vinson family_," Jamie said, a sly smile slide onto his face. The moustached man froze and turned slowly. Jamie smirked with a strange smugness, he smoothed back his hair and drew himself to his full height. He continued. "I'm sure you can find me and my lady friend a place, after all, it's in your best interest."

"Y-yes sir! R-right away sir!" The moustached man ran off, panic in his eyes.

Jamie grabbed Emmie by the hand made his way into the restaurant. Emmie watched, confused by her partner's transformation. He wasn't acting like himself, he was acting like a...

A spoiled rich boy. His eyes had taken on a hard gleam, no compassion what so ever.

_'Lady friend?'_ Emmie thought, a little miffed that she'd been down graded to _lady friend._ She followed her odd acting friend deep into the restaurant, waiters and waitresses moving frantically about at the name _Vinson_.

"P-please follow me to your seating," A pale young woman directed them. They were shown to a private room on one of the top floors. The room was a varying tone of red, with brown bits here and there. A solitary table accompanied by two chairs sat in the middle of the room, in front of a large floor to ceiling window that stretched the length of the wall.

"You will b-be served in a f-few moments," The waitress stuttered as she closed the doors. Jamie walked over to the table and sat down. Emmie sat down too. Suddenly Jamie cried out.

"Argh! I hate having to use my family's name to get anything!" Jamie was back to himself, the boy Emmie had come to know was sitting with her once again. Jamie looked at her with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about the "lady friend" thing. If i hadn't acted that way, they wouldn't have let us in."

"Do you always act like that around places like this?" Emmie asked, fingering the silver wear.

"Not generally, only when I'm around my parents' friends. They expect me to be something I'm not, but i have to act like I'm a snob when I'm in public. Sorry you had to see that side of me, even if it's not real," Jamie groaned and leaned back. "I was hoping to go some where that i didn't have to cheat our way in."

"If you want to leave..." Emmie felt a little bad for making Jamie do something he didn't like, even if he was used to doing it.

"Naw, were here now so might as well enjoy it."

Their waiter came a few minutes later and offered them the house specials. Emmie ordered a bunch of small dishes and Jamie, (now using his rich boy personality again), ordered one big dish. The waiter scurried out and their food was brought up less than ten minutes after, still steaming.

"I think you make them nervous," Emmie said through bites of her food. It was delicious, she hadn't ever had something like this.

"They have good reason, my family is very influential in the cooking world. If my parents dislike a restaurant it goes under within a month. We're one the biggest cooking industries in the world," Jamie explained. He took a nibble of his turkey roast. "So people tend to get scared when we eat at their businesses."

"Hmmm..." Emmie thought carefully, if Jamie was this influential on restaurants then... "Why haven't you taken me to places like this before? If everyone knows who you are, you get me a lot of good food."

"I don't because it tips my parents off about where i am. And the last thing i need is for them to find me," Jamie took a sip of his drink. "In fact, if i show i still depend in them they'll get even more insane."

"Like how insane?"

"Insane enough to send me servants and maids again," Jamie rubbed his temples. That day when fifteen servants and maids had shown up in his dorm room, at an academy he quit last year, had been so completely embarrassing he couldn't even walk the halls without being laughed at.

"You had servants?! And maids?!" Emmie stopped chewing and stared at her friend._ 'Wow, i guess he really did have it hard, over protective parents and all.' _She chided herself. At least Jamie's parents had been around. She didn't know the first thing about over protective parents.

"Yeah, they never let me do anything," Jamie replied. "Until i was eight i couldn't even dress myself alone! They were always there, in my bath room, the kitchen, even my room! This is the first time years I've been alone!"

"Yeesh," Emmie grimaced. "I wouldn't be able to live like that either."

"I'm just glad i got into D.W.M.A. If i hadn't, I'd have gone mad by now." Jamie laughed and Emmie laughed too, enjoying the end of their dinner. Jamie called for the check and they left, but not before egging on the moustached guy again.

**Line Break!**

Jada watched from high above, flying on her broom. She wore all black tonight with the exception of her hair, she was in stealth mode. Scree flew beside her as they stalked the weapon and meister below.

"They're heading right into our trap," Jada smiled. She ducked he hand into her pocket and pulled out five miniature figurines. They were each a cross between a human and a bat, even though they were small they were slightly terrifying.

"_**Bats, bats, wings, wings. Bats, bats, wings wings,"**_ Jada chanted, waving her hand over the bat humans. **"**_**Bat animation!"**_

The figurines shuddered in her hand and began moving. They flapped up and flew around Jada's head. "Fly down there, attack these two only." Jada held two photos, one of Jamie and one Emmie. The little monster screeched eagerly and took off. Jada flew down to a large building near Emmie and Jamie. She began chanting again.

"_**Bats, bats, wingy wings. Bats, bats, wings wingy, magic field!" **_A purple and pink bubble grew in her hands. It stretched and grew larger. It flew up and above, and began to cover the entire building and surrounding three blocks.

**Line Break!**

People screamed and ran, fearful of the strange orb that was engulfing the area. Emmie and Jamie would have run to, but they were busy dealing with another problem.

"Ow! Quit biting you little- Ow!" Emmie cried out as one of the gargoyle things latched onto her head. "Why does everything want to pull my hair!" She swore and ripped it off, losing strands of pale locks in the process.

"What are these thing?!" Jamie yelled as grabbed at one. It cackled and avoided his grasp easily. "Emmie transform! They can't get at you in your weapon form!"

"What about you?!"

"I'll be fine! I get the feeling this isn't all there is to these things," As if to prove his point, the gargoyles began to shift, getting bigger and nastier. The five human bats were now five feet tall, razor claws and sharp teeth gleamed at them. "Do it Emmie!"

"Let's whup these guys Jamie," Emmie said as she shifted as well. Jamie grasped her staff and swung the scythe blade around and through one of the gargoyles. It screamed and turned to dust, revealing a Kishin soul. It's comrades roared in rage and charged at Jamie.

Jamie wasn't fazed, he dodge and weaved and struck out again; catching one and lopping off it's arm. The attacks from them became more and more vicious with each wound Jamie gave them.

"Should we resonate?" Emmie's reflection showed in the blade as Jamie blocked with the staff of the scythe.

"I think I'll get killed if we don't!" Jamie cried as a claw came very close to catching his neck. Emmie smirked and got ready. They both yelled at the same time. _**"Let's go! Soul resonance!"**_

The Emmie's scythe blade hummed, showing her readiness. _**"Vibration blade!"**_

Three of the gargoyles narrowly avoided being sliced in half, the one missing an arm wasn't so lucky though. With that one dusted, Jamie moved to kill the others. Slicing, swinging, destroying the monsters one by one Jamie made easy work of them.

_'That weird expression is back again...'_ Emmie thought as Jamie killed another of the gargoyles, his expression was stone. Just like when they'd first resonated. There was only one left. It whimpered and Jamie moved forward to kill it. He swung down, slicing the creatures head clean off. It crumbled and it's soul appeared. The dust swirled around and disappeared into the night.

"That was easier than i expected," Emmie quipped as she transformed back. Jamie didn't move, instead he stared at the red soul before him. "Jamie...?"

"Yeah?" Jamie answered, back to normal. Emmie relaxed visibly. "Don't scare me. You got weird again."

"Did i...? huh, maybe it only happens when we resonate," Jamie shrugged. He hadn't noticed. "Anyway, we should be celebrating! We just completed our first mission within less than a few hours!"

Emmie smiled. "Yeah, i guess we did."

"Not quite~" A sing song voice called to them. Emmie and Jamie looked up at the building beside them, at the top was Jada; smiling brightly. "You still have to beat me, or die trying!"

I'm completely evil, aren't i? I just couldn't resist mushing them together like that! I think it had a good setting, crowded subway, lot's of people around, it was like they were asking for it! X3

Other than that, who enjoyed this chapter? (i apologize if i made New Yorkers out to be mean, but it's my Canadian view of things talking, not me) Jamie now has a bit of a split personality, courtesy of my twisted imagination. (making him snobby was my favourite part of this chapter)

Nya~! Please stay tuned for their next adventure, the face of with Jada the witch! XD


	17. Chapter 16

Yosh! Time for chapter sixteen! But before that I'd like to tell you all about what happened to me today.

My school was put in a lock down because of a tornado warning! So that's why I had time to write a whole chapter 3 (the tornado never actually showed up so I was locked inside the gym of my school for a whole hour for nothing :P)

Please enjoy the fruits of my labor!

"Who are you?!" Emmie yelled at the Jada. Jada just laughed and giggled.

"My name is Jada Chadwick, I am a witch who has been sent here," She pulled out three cards in each hand, they all had spiralling words and designs on them. "To kill you!"

She began chanting and the cards in her hands lit up. _**"Bats, bats, wings, wings..."**_

"What?!" Jamie said, panic rising in his throat. "Isn't the witch battle supposed to come later? Much later?!"

"Run!" Emmie yelled. She grabbed Jamie by his shirt collar and they sprinted with all their might.

"_**Bat swarm!"**_ Jada yelled out as they began running. The papers in her hands burst open a changed into hundreds of white bats. The screamed and screeched as they gave chase. Jamie and Emmie ran, dodging the white bats.

"Shit! We need to find shelter!" Emmie yelled, a bat caught her on the cheek. Red blood bloomed on her pale skin, trickling down.

"Yikes!" A bat tackled Jamie on the face. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" It's little feet scratched against his skin, leaving marks left and right. "Get it off me!"

"Hold still!" Emmie shifted her hands to blades and sliced through the bat easily. It screamed and changed back into paper. She smiled at her discovery. "Cut them in half! It'll change them back!"

"I'm not a weapon! I can't!"

"Then leave this to me!" Emmie shifted her hands from two big blades and instead changed her fingers, turning them all into individual scythe blades. She went to town on the offending creatures. Slicing, dicing, and mincing everything that moved. Soon paper bat cut outs littered the street.

Jamie sweat dropped as he watched his gleeful partner. _'I forgot how skilled she i__s.'_ Emmie jumped, ducked, and left the paper bats in the dust; as she passed each one, they fell apart. Emmie stood huffing, getting rid of so many small opponents was trickier than it seemed.

Jada scowled, all of her bats had been destroyed. Emmie looked up at her and said tauntingly: "Is this _really_ all you have?"

"As if!" Jada cried, outraged by Emmie's mean words. _**"Wingy wings, wingy wings, Shadow bat!"**_

The shadows cast by the street lights on the surrounding buildings moved and shifted. They gathered in the middle, and rose up into the form of a giant black bat with glowing red eyes.

"Get them!" Jada yelled from up top of the behemoth. It bellowed, it's sound shaking and breaking the windows. With a swipe of it's wing it knocked Emmie back and into a wall. There was an awful crack, Emmie cried out and slid to the ground.

"EMMIE!" Jamie ran to his partner. Emmie's breath was fast and deep, the wind had been knocked from her lungs. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah... I'm fine..." Emmie gasped, as she tried to get up.

"Sit down, you shouldn't move."

"It's... not likely... that Jada is... gonna wait... for me... to catch my breath," Emmie said painfully. She stood shakily on her feet. "I'm gonna transform and your going to fight. But be careful, one slip up and we're goners."

"We should just run! This is insane!" Jamie yelled. Emmie ignored his protests and transformed any way. He grasped the handle unwillingly.

"Fight until she's distracted enough for you to run, okay?" Emmie said. Jada and her shadow bat were lumbering towards them with alarming speed. "Now fight!"

"_**Let's go! Soul resonance!"**_

**Line Break!**

"What's going on?!" D.K. said. The waves on the monitor were going crazy. "What are those two doing?!"

"What happened D.K.?" Madison came into the room, Serena following. "Are they in danger?"

"No, not yet at least," D.K. said calmly, but inside he was panicking. He hadn't expected this to happen so soon. "But if things keep escalating..."

**Line Break!**

"Come at me!" Jamie yelled at Jada. The monster bat complied by trying to eat Jamie, Jamie dodged as it's enormous mouth bit into the ground where he'd been standing a moment ago. Jamie took this as an opportunity to strike. He swung down, using vibration blade to slice off the monster's ear.

"**SCR****EEE!"** The shadow monster screamed in pain, white energy escaped from the wound.

"Yes! Now we can-" Jamie choked on his own breath, pain washed over him. His knees buckled.

"Jamie? Jamie! What's going on?!" Emmie called from her reflection. Then she too felt it, the pain they'd both felt before. The pain from resonating.

_'I said that i wasn't gone, Emmie. When did i ever say you could do this all the time?'_

'_You!' _Emmie swore inwardly. She'd forgotten there was a time limit to their resonance. _'Why wou__ld you stop us? We'll both die if you won't let us resonate!'_

"Hmmm? It seems you two have gotten into a spot of trouble~," Jada said joyfully. "That makes it just too easy!"

The shadow bat reached down and picked up Jamie, Jamie lay limp in it's claws.

"No!" Emmie cried out. She shifted to her human form and ran at the monster, ignoring the pain. "Don't touch him!"

_'Let us resonate! Please!' _Emmie begged the black blood.

_'I want to have a little fun though. So let me take the __reins__, I'll win this __easy!'_ The black blood hissed to Emmie.

_'No, you'll just slaughter everything in sight! Give us back our resonance and I'll let you fight another time.'_

_'Promise~?'_

Emmie grimaced as the shadow bat almost caught her with it's free hand. _'I promise!'_

'_Alright then, have fun while you can~,' _The pain disappeared from Emmie's chest. Emmie smirked and leapt up at the shadow bat. Scaling it's arm she made it to where Jamie was being held. "Let. Him. GO!" Emmie screamed, she sliced through the fingers of the monster, freeing Jamie.

"The pains gone!" Jamie said as he jumped down with Emmie.

"Yeah, great. Focus on the fight though!" Emmie transformed and Jamie caught her. Swinging her around he sliced through the monster bats wing tips. "Now run! While it's distracted!" Emmie directed.

Jamie didn't stop to think about it, he just ran. Sprinting around the corner he saw the main street come into sight. He could see cars, people, and more importantly, the police!

"We're home free!" Jamie cried out. He ran full tilt for the crowd of people, hoping to hide in their numbers. Suddenly he ran into something hard and wall like. "OW!" He rubbed his nose, (which was bleeding a little now), and examined just what he'd run into. He poked the air in front of him; it shimmered, turning purple and pink. The shimmer spread up and over Jamie, soon the whole sky was encased in it.

"Fool, did you think you'd get away that easy?" Jada frowned down at him. She scratched the monster bat's ear affectionately. "I've sealed off this entire area, only civilians can get out. But no one can get in. So don't expect any help."

"Uh... now what Emmie?" Jamie said nervously. His palms tightened against the metal scythe staff.

"I... I don't know," Emmie stared in fear at the monster bat and witch. This was it, they were going to get killed. _'Maybe i should have taken the black blood up on it's offer.'_

"Resonate. We need to resonate Emmie," Jamie said, his face grave. "But it needs to be more powerful than any other resonance we've ever generated. We need an attack that'll kill this thing in one hit."

"Do you expect me to come up with one right now?!" Emmie yelled at her partner.

"Yeah, but I'll help too," Jamie stood tall and raised the scythe blade to eye level. "I know we can do it, we won't die here."

Emmie stared at him, astonished by his confidence in their power. She nodded. "Right, we'll do it."

"Enough talk, shadow bat attack!" Jada commanded. The shadow monster swung it's wing around and into the ground. Jamie jumped back, and they began their resonance.

"_**Let's go! Soul resonance!"**_ They yelled in usion.

_'I know we can do this, if Jamie believes then so will i!' _Emmie pushed her soul towards Jamie's and they connected. Sparks flew and white light glared up at Jada. _'More! I__t's not enough! Our resonance isn't strong enough!;_

Jamie noticed it too, the lack of power on his end, so he summoned every once of power he had; pushing it to it's limits. They both gave it their all, and power exploded between them. Intensified energy flowed into both of their souls. Blooming into an attack they hadn't known they had.

"What?! What's happening?!" Jada cried as she watch in horror as Jamie jumped at her. His face was black again, no emotion; but it was different, it seemed... focused. The scythe blade lengthened, and changed colour. Jamie's trench coat flapped behind him, his hood up and his eyes blazing with a calm fire.

"_**Witch hunter!"**_ Jamie yelled as he sliced clean through the shadow bat's head. It disintegrated and Jada fell to the ground with a thud.

"H-how did you...?" Jada asked Jamie. He didn't answer; instead he stabbed Emmie's staff into the ground beside Jada's head, making her yelp.

"You didn't want to do this, did you?" Jamie asked, his emotions showing again. Jada didn't meet his eyes. "I can see your soul, it's not normal, even for a witch." Jamie switched on his spirit perception and peered at Jada's soul. "I can see the magical energy flowing around it, but there also a bunch of damage. I'm betting your powers didn't awaken on their own."

"What are doing Jamie?!" Emmie yelled from inside the scythe blade. "She's a witch, we can't trus-"

"I know you can't see her soul Emmie!" Jamie yelled. "But please, trust when i say this," He pulled his hood of, exposing his features. "Jada isn't all bad. Notice there's no one around? It's because she drove them off before we started fighting. She didn't want to hurt anyone any more than she had too. And the shield, it wasn't to keep us in, it was to keep everyone else _out__ and away from harm__._"

Emmie put things together in her mind, slowly understanding the situation. Transforming back in the process, she spoke. "So... she never really wanted to kill anyone?"

"No, we're the only people who got hurt today. That proves she didn't want to hurt anyone."

"S-SHUT UP!" Jada screeched. She stood up painfully, her clothes torn in the fall. "What do you Shibusen students know?! You don't know why i did this, you don't get it!" Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. "No one understands! None of you stupid people do! Your reason this happened to me! IT'S ALL THE YOUR FAULT!" She gave in and cried, falling to her knees. "It's all your fault... all of it..."

"How is what our fault?" Emmie said gently, bending down to the young witch.

"You, the D.W.M.A., your the reason he pushed my powers to awaken. He wanted a tool to use, and so he used me," Jada hiccuped. She looked up angrily at Emmie and Jamie. "He wanted to use me to destroy you."

"Whose 'He'?" Jamie asked, also coming over to Jada. He got close, but then a brown furry thing grabbed his face. "GAH! AGAIN?!"

"Jamie!" Emmie grabbed at the furry creature stuck to Jamie's face and pulled it off.

"Scree! Let go of Scree!" Jada cried, grabbing him from Emmie's hands.

"Then tell him and all of his friends to stop scratching up my face!" Jamie yelled, pointing at his numerous cuts.

"It's not their fault! I'm the one who told them to attack! And then..." Jada trailed off for a moment and looked sad. "And then you killed them."

"If you hadn't attacked us in the first place, they'd be alive. Now tell us," Emmie walked over and stood face to face with Jada. "Who is 'he'?"

Jada hugged Scree close, fidgeting. "It's not safe to talk about it here, he can see us."

"Could you at least tell us his name?"

"He... is..." Jada took a deep breath, hoping that she would not be found out. "…Venom."

"Venom..." Jamie echoed. Emmie shook her head, that wasn't much to go on, but it certainly was an intimidating name.

"So what does this Venom guy have against us?" Jamie asked the pink haired witch. "He obviously has quite a grudge to go this far."

"I can't say," Jada said.

"What d'you mean you can't say?" Emmie asked, frowning at the witch.

"Literally, i can't say. He placed a spell on me to keep it secret. If i even breath one word about it... it'll tear me apart."

"Ssssince you can't sssay it, i will," A sinister voice hissed at them. Jamie and Emmie whirled around, trying to locate the source. Jamie spotted it, an abnormally large snake, slithering out of the sewer drain. "I am Venom. Although i am not there pyssically i can sssee you and hear you perfectly."

"And now there's a talking snake. Great." Jamie moaned to himself.

"Sssilence boy, you ssshall lisssten and lisssten well," The snake hissed angrily, curling into a mound. It raised it's neck up to the height of a full grown man. "I have a grudge, deep and bloody, againssst you D.W.M.A. ssstudentsss. You impractical misss Emmie," The snake said, pointing it's tail at her.

"Me? What did i ever do to you?" Emmie said, she crossing her arms. "I would have remembered if i had."

"It isssn't you ssspecifically, but your parentsss," The snake bared it's fangs at Emmie. "It wasss them! They ruined my life!"

"How is it that everything is our fault around here?" Jamie moaned from the side lines.

"How did my parents ruin your life? I know of every fight they've ever been in; even the ones between them. I would know," Emmie pointed at the giant snake. "If they had ruined your life. As far i can tell, your a crazy snake guy who is delusional and a sicko."

"You will know sssoon enough," The snake said angrily. It turned towards Jada. "By the way Jada, I've removed the sssilencing enchantment on you, feel free ssspeak of what I've done to you."

Suddenly it shuddered and began to shrink, it shrunk until it was a little garter snake; which slithered away.

"That was undoubtedly the creepiest situation i have ever gone through," Jamie shuddered at the thought of just who Venom was.

Behind him, Jada wobbled on her feet and collapsed to the ground.

"Oi, Jada! Jada!" Emmie yelled at the witch. Jada didn't hear their cries, instead slipping into the blackness of fainting.

Jamie checked her pulse. "She's fine, i think she just fainted from stress." He scooped Jada up into his arms, her pink hair swished as Jamie moved.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Emmie said, running after her partner.

"We need to take her back to Shibusen for questioning, but more importantly she needs to get medical help. Look," Jamie pointed at Jada's arms and neck with his eyes. Emmie looked closer and gasped, Jada was riddled with cuts and bruises, as well as pink scars. Jamie grimaced. "She's been through a lot. We should treat her carefully."

"Fine... but your explaining things to Kidd when we get back."

"I'm good with that," Jamie replied. They left with no trouble; Jada's spell had fallen when she passed out. Heading back to the hotel was easy, grabbing a taxi took less than a five minutes. Jada stayed asleep the entire time, not waking even when Jamie laid her down on Emmie's bed. She and Scree were now fast asleep, curled up together.

"Our first job and we uncover a conspiracy," Emmie grumbled, sitting down with a cup of hot chocolate. "I hope all our other jobs from here on out aren't as stressful."

"It's unlikely, but knowing us... we probably get into trouble again at some point," Jamie chuckled. He sat down in the chair across for Emmie.

"At least this will pay well," Emmie said sipping her drink. They sat for a while, just enjoying the silence. Then something occurred to Emmie. "Wait... where am i supposed to sleep?"

Jamie froze. "Oh... dear..."

"Does this mean... we have to…"

"Share a bed...?" Jamie finished.

**Line Break!**

"Keep on your side, okay?" Emmie said, putting another pillow between herself and her partner.

"I know, I know," Jamie said. He pulled the covers up on himself and lay down. This was the second most awkward situation he'd been in all his life. (The other one involved a parade for his birthday, courtesy of his psycho parents)

Emmie reached out and turned off the light, leaving them in darkness. She tried to sleep, she honestly did, but it was just too weird to be sleeping next to Jamie. So she ended up running battle moves through her head all night to distract herself until she fell asleep from exhaustion.

Jamie couldn't sleep either, for the same reasons. He also tried to think about things other than the fact that Emmie was sleeping... right beside him… in the same bed. _'Wait... why does it feel like I'm forgetting something?'_ Jamie thought long and hard about just what it was, but gave up around midnight, letting Emmie's soft breathing guide him into sleep.

**Line Break!**

"What in god's name happened to this place?!" A random constructor exclaimed. He and his crew had shown early that morning to fix some pot holes, and now they find carnage equal to a tornado. Entire buildings were missing, huge cracks riddled the streets, and every window for three blocks was shattered.

"I don't get paid enough for this..." The constructor grumbled and swore as directed his workers in the reconstruction of everything.

Tada! Awkward, but enjoyable ending! Hooray! Jada is now a part of the main cast, so look forward to more misadventures with her! 3

And Venom... yeesh, he's definitely going to be an issue. (Course that's his purpose) take your guesses at why he's angry at Emmie's parents!

Reminder that I _really _need a witch OC! I gotta start planning soon or there will be back up in chapters! So please send one in! (I'm begging you here!)


	18. Chapter 16 and a half!

Thank you all for sending in your witch OC's, the requirements have been fulfilled so i won't need anymore.

I've been tired all week so instead of an actual chapter I'm going to do a bonus chapter; where I'm going to explain the resonance attacks and personalities of each team/character. (the ones that have been shown in battle or most often)

Please enjoy it 3

First up we have Emmie and Jamie, our main team for the series.

Their special attack "Vibration Blade" works with rapid movement. Emmie's scythe blade moves back and forth really quickly, making it hum and seem like it's blurring before your eyes. When they use it in an attack it's like getting hit three times over rather than just once. (neat right?)

this is why it's so destructive and effective. (it's also why they sliced through the floor during their fight with Shiro)

Emmie's solo attacks are pretty basic, mostly slashing with her scythe fingers. Of course, it takes quite a bit of training to summon so many scythe blades at once and so many times in one day. (she gets into fight a lot) So it's rather impressive if you think about it.

Their individual personalities are opposite, but compatible. Emmie tends to be head strong and quick tempered, but can be calm and cool at times. (specifically when she's listening to music) as you all know, she's had a bit of a challenging life so she can be rather dark when her memories surface.

As for Jamie, he's pretty mellow. Doesn't tend to get worked up easily and is genuinely kind to most people. But he acts a little (or a lot) rebellious towards his parents, rejecting the lifestyle they want him to live. The whole "split personality" thing is mostly acting, not really real.

As for the way he acts in battle during a resonance... well I'll explain later.

I they work well together because there there for each other and balance each other out. A mostly negative personality needs a positive personality to become neutral.

Then there's D.K., Madison, and Serena.

Matching three souls at once is a tricky task, even for a death god. So the three of them need to be on good terms and trusting at all times, other wise their resonance will fall apart.

I know i haven't done any fights involving D.K. yet, but they're coming so don't worry.

D.K.'s personality is a bit moody and brooding, (like his dear old dad), but if flustered he can get pretty panicked. He is proud to be a Shinigami, but isn't exactly proud of his family. Hard working, and just a bit rebellious he is pretty easy to along with once you know him.

Madison... well she's kinda the person who keeps her team up beat. She's sunny twenty-four seven, rarely showing any fear or sadness. She makes sure D.K. doesn't get to moody and keeps an eye on whether or not Serena is speaking enough. (she tends to be closed up)

Serena is a bit... introverted. She speaks to people, but doesn't tend to connect to anyone really. Before they met Emmie and Jamie D.K. and Madison were her only friends. (the adults they know don't count) She doesn't have a huge dark past or anything, she just doesn't socialize well. (like me!)

Our other team is Shiro and Aria.

Aria is a special type of weapon that has more than one form, she can shift between a katana and a large claw. Their attacks are based off of this ability, Shiro can fight with a longer reach with the katana, but the claw form allows for quicker movement.

Their resonance attack "Stinging Claw" works in this fashion:

The tip becomes super heated, changing to red. It has varying levels of temperature, the more powerful their resonance the hotter it gets. At it's highest temp it can melt metal. (glad they used the lowest level on Jamie!) It helps that when they resonate Shiro get faster and stronger in attacks. This boost of power will often turn the battle in their favour. (except that one time with Emmie and Jamie)

And last of all is miss Jada and Scree.

Jada's magic is of course mostly bat based, (obviously), most witches use their familiar as their medium for their magic. (Eruka: frogs, Medusa: snakes, Kim: racoons)

Her magic is a bit different than most witches, (like Kim! who will be appearing later), it could be that Venom forced it to become active before it was ready or she's simply different.

I like to call it "Creation Magic", instead of spells that blow up things she uses her magic to bring things to life and create a variety of other things.

Her first spell "Bat Animation" was a spell that brought clay sculptures to life. (do not use in museums) It first makes the sculptures sentient then enlarges them, so they go from pesky to destructive.

The second one, "Magic Field", was barrier that kept the area sealed; it also kept people from thinking about the area, so that no one would notice that fact there suddenly was a giant purple sphere.

"Bat Swarm" is made from paper, so it's an easy spell to use. At first the paper rips itself up, then multiplies into hundreds of bats the size of the American brown bat. It's less of an attack more of a distraction/tracking device.

At the moment, her most powerful attack is the "Shadow Bat". It pulls shadow from nearby and molds them into a giant bat. It runs on energy from Jada, which was the white stuff that leaked out when Jamie sliced through it. It's about the size of a raised bungalow, (30 feet or so).

As for her personality, she's rather secretive. Course, she hasn't really been around enough people to bring out her real personality. (which will become present later) She's very sweet towards her pet, Scree. He's as close to family as she's got at the moment.

Scree is very protective of her in return. As explanation, she was nursing him back to health after an unfortunate encounter with a bug zapper when Venom grabbed them. He's more intelligent than most bats because of the magical infusion Jada gave him, his intelligence is more than a dog's, but less than a human's. (more or less)

and then there's _Venom._ (dun, dun, dum!)

I haven't used his attack spells yet, so I'll talk about the two spells that he's used.

How was he able to speak and see through the snake's eyes? Well, he takes a drop of blood and drops it into the mouth of the poor snake he's caught, (ew~), which allows him to invade it's mind. While the blood is working it's way through the snakes system, he can see through the snakes eyes. It takes three drops for him to speak through the snake.

As for his personality... he's crazy. He enjoys torturing things, killing things, and setting up elaborate spells that control people's minds. He's obviously a sadist, i think he's racist, and he tends to be revengeful.

That's all for this week! Please tune in next week for the next drama filled chapter of After Spartoi! and again, thank you for all the OC's thus far. 3


	19. Chapter 17

Ohiozaimasu~ everyone!

before anything else, i am so, so, so, so, soooo sorry for the extremely late up date!

I worked myself so hard with school i ended up making myself super sick. I'm better for the most part now, and I'm done school for the summer! Yay! Now i can up date a bunch!

This is the 17th chapter of After Spartoi 3 did everyone like the bonus chapter? I thought it would clear up some stuff, so i typed it up. (and now it's on the internet)

please enjoy this very late up date!

Early morning light filtered in through the curtains of Emmie's hotel room. Pigeons cooed and fluttered on the window sill, fluffing up their feathers against the cool air of morning.

Emmie squeezed her eyes against the light, wishing the sun would go away. "Hmmm..." she moaned, turning over in her bed. Air blew against her face and she opened her eyes... to find Jamie's face in front of hers.

"Yeek!" Emmie jumped backwards and fell off the bed with an "oof!". She peeked over the edge of the bed, trying to figure out why he was sleeping with her. _'Oh yeah... Jada is in his bed.'_ she thought, blushing in embarrassment at her forgetfulness, not to mention the fact that her partner had a bed with her. She got up off the floor and laid back down beside her partner.

_'He sleeps like he hasn't a care in the world...'_ Emmie thought sleepily, still tired from last night's battle. The morning light reflected off of Jamie's blonde hair, making it seem gold. His features were soft, no signs of aggression at all. Emmie reached out slowly, stretching her fingers at Jamie's hair. His hair was soft, silky. Unlike most boys she'd known, their hair had been ruff and unkept. (how did she know? 'cause she'd grabbed at their hair during her fights)

_'I never noticed it before, but...'_ Emmie curled a strand of Jamie's hair around her finger. _'Jamie is kinda..._

_cute.'_

She looked back at her weeks with him. The first time they'd met, he'd seemed like a hopeless case. Skinny, untrained, unimpressive. But then... he'd fought for her. He'd protected her in a fight. And now, he was working his hardest to meet her standards. His power had risen significantly lately, he was becoming a fine meister.

"Heh, I've got myself quite a partner," Emmie whispered to himself. She pulled her hand away and got up, stretching her tired muscles, and heading to the shower with a change of clothes.

**Line Break!**

Jamie's nose twitched at the smell of fresh bacon. Sitting up he caught sight of Emmie eating breakfast.

"Hey, you woke up. 'bout time you did," Emmie said, holding up a plate of food for him. Jada was sitting with her, cautiously eating her food; watching them intently. Scree sat on top of her pink hair, nibbling a piece of apple.

"How come you didn't wake me?" Jamie asked as he took his bacon and eggs.

Emmie crunched on her bacon. "You went through quite a lot last night, so i thought you could use the sleep. By the way, nice bed head."

Jamie's hair was sticking up on end, he looked more porcupine than human. He felt the tops of his staticy hair, tried pushing them down, only to have them pop right back up. Emmie laughed. "I don't think that's going to work. Go try wetting it once your done eating."

"Good idea," Jamie mumbled.

"I already told Jada why we brought her here, so we can leave right away after this," Emmie informed her partner. "So let's make this snappy. I want to get home quick, I'm sick of hotel food already."

After they'd cleaned up the room, they grabbed their bags, (and Jada), and made for the air port. It was fairly uneventful, they just showed their Shibusen badges and security let them take Jada with them. (though they told Emmie and Jamie that they would be billing them after the flight.)

It was when they arrived in Death City that things got complicated.

**Line Break!**

"Could you please explain once more why you have a _witch_ with you?" Kidd asked incredulously, frowning at Emmie and Jamie.

"Like i said, she was manipulated into working for some guy named Venom and i thought maybe we could question her here," Jamie said weakly. They were standing in the death room trying to explain both their early return and Jada's presence at D.W.M.A. So far things hadn't gone so well. "She didn't resist so I'm pretty sure she's harmless."

"She could have been tricking you! Witches are famous for being crafty, how could you just escort her into the heart of this school?!" Kidd raved. For Jamie, this was a first timer mistake which was acceptable, (sort of), but he'd expected Emmie to have better judgement. "For all we know, she could have let you take her here so she could lead others!"

"I don't think that's likely Kidd, Venom made it pretty clear he didn't want her anymore" Emmie spoke up. "And I haven't felt any malice from her at all, even when we were fighting. I want you to trust Jamie's judgement and my word."

She stared Kidd hard in the eye and he stared her back. They remained there for about a minute before Kidd looked away. "I'll let her stay, but she will have to wear a repressor to keep her powers dormant. Is that alright with you, Jada?"

"Yes, i will consent to that. I will do anything if it means i don't have to leave," Jada spoke softly. She looked up at Kidd, her green eyes meeting gold ones. "I promise that i will obey any condition you give me."

"Good. I'll call our magic specialist for the repressor, so please wait just a little while. After you'll be taken for questioning," Kidd pulled out his cell phone and dialed. "Emmie, Jamie, take her for some food. You are all hungry right?"

Jamie nodded enthusiatically. "Yes! Thank you sir!"

"Yeah, thanks Kidd," Emmie said, grateful for his agreement. "We'll make sure she stays out of trouble." Emmie and Jamie grabbed Jada and ran from the room, hoping to get away before Kidd changed his mind.

**Line Break**!

"You can stop dragging me now," Jada said impatiently. Emmie and Jamie realized they were still pulling Jada by the arms.

"Whoops, sorry," Emmie said, letting go of the witch.

Jada rubbed her shoulders, a little sore from being dragged half way through the school. "So, you said something about food?"

"Yeah, our cafeteria is stock full of good dishes. But some can be expensive, so use what money you have wisely," Jamie said as they made their way to the hallowed hall of dining. Jada suddenly stopped and began to fidget. Emmie caught on. "You don't have any money, do you?"

"No, i haven't ever needed it," Jada replied. She rubbed the edges of her skirt, embaressed for some reason. "Venom never let me outside, he kept me isolated and gave me food there."

"Sounds rough," Emmie said. She thought for a moment then had an idea. "Tell you what, I'll pay for your food today and you can pay me back later."

"Huh?" Jada exclaimed. "You'd do that for me?"

"Sure. Besides," Emmie gestured towards Jamie. "I've been getting him to buy me meals for so long i have a ton of cash to spend."

Jamie kinda sputtered for a moment at this new information. "You had money the whole time?!" Jamie shouted at Emmie. She just laughed and brushed it off.

**Line Break!**

Jada stared at her food, sushi and green tea. She picked up her chop sticks and fumbled. "Uh, how am i supposed to eat this...?"

"You hold them like this," Emmie adjusted her fingers.

"Oh! Thank you!" Jada scooped up a roll and popped it into her mouth. "Mmmm! Tastey~!"

Emmie smirked, an idea popping into her mind. "You know, it tastes even better with some _wasabi _on it." she dropped a huge glob onto a piece. "_Lots_ of wasabi."

"Emmie..." Jamie warned, but it was too late. Jada picked up the sushi roll and ate it. It took a moment and er face went from happy to blank to slightly upset to full out panic!

"HOT!" Jada screamed. She grabbed her cup of tea and drained it. It wasn't enough, the burning senssation continued inside her mouth. Tears began streaming down her cheeks. "WATER!"

"Here!" Jamie passed her his glass as well. She chugged it, but it still didn't quench the fire. Jada grabbed a jug of water from a passing student and drained it.

"And that's for the trouble you caused us," Emmie said smugly. She sipped her tea calmly. "I didn't really appreciate being smacked around yesterday. But now were even, so I'll let it go."

"Uwah~ that was so mean!" Jada cried. She wiped at her tears. "But i guess i did deserve it."

"Was that really nesessary Emmie?" Jamie questioned his partner.

"I wouldn't have been able to get along with her if i hadn't," Emmie said flatly. She handed Jada the rest of her tea. "Here, I'm sorry i played that trick, but i think you understand."

"Excuse me, but why is there a witch in Shibusen?" D.K.'s voice same from behind Emmie.

Emmie turned her head around slowly. D.K., Madison, and Serena were standing behind her. "Yeah, funny story..."

After a long explanation D.K. nodded in understanding. "I see, and my father is really okay with this?"

"He said he would be as long as Jada wears something that keeps her magic down or something like that."

"And i agreed to it," Jada said. She scratched Scree's head ad he screeched happily. "I never want to go back, so i am willing to do what Lord Death says."

"So, this Venom, why did he attack you specifically?" Serena looked at Jada. "Do you know?"

"Yes, he did because-"

"Excuse me," A man in dark sun glasses came up to their table. "Would you all please follow me? It's time for the witch's interrogation."

**Line Break!**

Jada fidgeted nervously in her metal chair. They'd been lead down into the deeper parts of the school, then seperated. The door opened and Sid entered. "Hello, I'll be asking you some questions."

"Uh, okay," Jada said. Scree fluttered on her shoulder.

"Could you please tell me your name?"

"My name is Jada Chadwick, and this is Scree."

"What type of magic do you use?"

"My magic brings things to life and creates."

"Interesting, I've never heard if a witch that creates life" Sid wrote a note down. "Now, who is Venom?"

Jada was quiet for a moment. "He's... he's a male witch, and he has a deep set hatred for D.W.M.A." Jada swallowed. "He is undoubtedly the most powerful witch i have ever met. It sends shivers down my spine to even think of what he's truely capable of."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No, he's most likely moved now."

"Why does he hate Shibusen?"

"He's never really elaborated, but from what i gathered someone in D.W.M.A. killed someone close to him when he was younger," Jada twirled her hair around her finger. "Whoever it was, he hates them with passion like hell fire. I get the feeling that person is connected to Emmie, but i don't know anymore than that."

"Could you give me a description of what he looks like?"

"He's about five foot ten and a slim build. He has green hair and yellow eyes. Oh, and he has his ears pierced," Jada thought hard incase she'd missed anything. "He talks a bit weird, he drags out his S's. Like this, _ssssss_"

Sid wrote it all down. "Thank you Jada, I'll have some one draw a picture and I'd like you to confirm it looks like him. In the mean time, you will be under constant survailence by a meister and weapon. You magic surpressor is outside this room, when you leave you'll be asked to put it on. Okay?"

"Yes sir."

"Call me Sid, I'm not the kind of man who is called "sir".

Sid opened the door and let her out, Emmie and the rest were waiting with two women, a pink haired one and the other was a black long haired.

"Your already done?" Jamie asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Now we can get out of here," Emmie said, bored with waitin around. She noticed Jada staring at the two women. "By the way, this is Kim and Jaqueline. Kim is Shibusen's resident magic specialist, plus she's a witch herself so you have something in common."

"Really?! There are other witches here?!" Jada exclaimed.

Kim nodded. "There are a few working here, but I'm the only public one." She held up a black choker. "This will keep your magic from being active. Put it on."

"A-alright," Jada fastened it around her neck. Imeddiately she felt her power dry up and disappear. "Huh? What happened?"

"It puts a spell on your soul that prevents you from using your magic," Kim explained. She poked at the goofy skull on the choker. "This relays to computers that monitor whether or not your attempting to cast spells. But it doesn't restrict it all, i could never get it to completely supress all magic ability. You probably have about 10% of your power."

"That's fine with me," Jada said. She smiled as she fingered the necklace.

"If you'll excuse me, i have better things to do with my time than to cater Kidd's whims," Kim sauntered away, her short pink hair bobbing as she moved.

"Gomennasai!" Jaqueline said, appologizing for her partner. "Don't take it to heart, Kim is like that to everyone. She's actually very happy another witch has decided to join Shibusen."

"Jaqueline!" Kim called from down the hall.

"Coming!" She smiled at Jada. "I wish you luck, Jada."

"Thank you!" Jada called after her.

"Now what?" Madison asked aloud. "Where does Jada go?"

"I think she'll be staying with me," Emmie said. "Kidd said something about me watching her or something." She turned to Jada. "Do have any clothes or something?"

"No," Jada shook her head. "I don't own much, and everything i did have i left with Venom."

"You mean you have no clothes?!" Madison yelled. When Jada nodded she went balistic. "This is unacceptable! We cannot allow this travesty to continue! Come! We shal embark upon an emergency shopping trip!"

"Shopping trip?" Jada tipped her head to the side. "I've never been shopping."

Madison reeled. "No! That can't be true!"

"Venom never let me out unless it was a mission, so i made my own clothes with maigc."

"D.K.! Give me your credit card!" Madison said. She grabbed D.K.'s wallet out of his pocket.

"Hey-!"

"Enough! You and Jamie will be coming too, to carry what we buy!"

"Madison, do we really-" Madison slapped her hand over Emmie's mouth. "Yes we do! This poor girl has been deprived of so much! We must reintroduce her into society! Now, off we go!" Madison grabbed Emmie and Jada and ran at the speed of light.

"My wallet..." D.K. whined as they chased after the girls.

"I guess it's useless to resist," Jamie moaned. _'At least she didn't take my wallet.'_

"Quit whining you two, just hurry or we'll lose sight of them!" Serena huffed.

**Line Break!**

"Try this one on too Jada!" Madison shoved another set of clothes into Jada's already full hands.

Emmie hid her fac with a hat, this was so embaressing. She was in the place she hated most.

A mainstream store stock full of screamy girls. Course she wasn't as bad off as Jamie and D.K.

"Madison, please can we leave? I'm begging you here!" The shinigami pleaded.

"No! We haven't bought enough yet!"

"This is plently Madison," Jada said, her voice muffled by the mountain of clothes in her hands. You couldn't even see her face anymore.

"Are you sure?"

"I don't think i could wear all of these if i had a whole year to!"

"Fine, but if you need anymore just call me and we can go shopping again."

"Could you use Jamie's wallet next time?"

"Hey! No volenteering me!"

"Can we please just leave?" Emmie said weakly. People had started to stare at the odd group.

Madison paid for the clothes and they left. As they walked, Jamie and D.K. struggled under the weight of the shopping bags.

"Are you alright?" Jada asked the boys.

"Y-yeah, just fine," D.K. muttered.

"T-this is nothing!" Jamie exclaimed, putting on a bravado.

Serena smiled, amused by her friends actions. The shopping trip had been long, but enjoyable.

But things were't as ahppy for Jada. People were staring at her, her outfit stood out. She was still dressed in her black and pink dress and witch hat.

Emmie noticed this. "Just ignore them Jada, it doesn't matter what they think."

"Yes, but..." Jada stared sadly at the ground. Suddenly Emmie grabbed her hand and pulled of the main streets. "Everyone follow me, we have one last stop to make."

**Line Break**!

The group now stood in front of a small black store front. The sign was large and the writing was cursev.

"Millenium?" Jada questioned.

"This is my favourite store, i wanted to grab somehing quick," Emmie disappeared into the shop.

"Can we put these down?" Jamie asked. He and D.K. were now close to falling over.

"Sure, just put them on the bench over there," Madison instructed. They set them down, releaved of their burden.

"I'm back," Emmie called, coming back out. She was carrying a hat box. She quickly grabbed Jada's hat off her head and opened the box and placed the hat on Jada's head. "Here," Emmie held up a mirror.

"Oh~!" The hat was a black boller hat with thin pink ribbon around it. "I... I love it!"

"I thought you would."

"But why? Not that I'm not grateful, but why?"

"Because you can't go around in a witch hat. Now instead of looking like a witch, you look like a cospalyer," Emmie pushed the hat down over her eyes. "Now people won't stare at you."

"No, i think people will still do that," Serena warned. The purple haired walked over and tipped the hat upwards. "But nonetheless, it looks good on you."

"I agree!" Madison cheered. "You look great!"

"I'm glad this all worked out," Jamie said. He and D.K. were sitting on the bench with the bags.

"Me too," D.K. agreed. Then he remembered his wallet. "I think they spent my entire allowance for this month."

"Cheer up, These should last her for a long time yet," Jamie said. He smiled at the happy faces of his friends, things had gone much better than he'd imagined. _'Hmmm... never seen Emmie smile so much.' _He thought.

**Line Break!**

"Is it really alright for me to sleep here?" Jada asked. Emmie had brought her to her apartment and was now setting up a room for her.

"Sure it is, this place was meant for two people any way," Emmie assured her. Placing a comforter on the bed, it was finished. "There! All done. You can settle in now."

"Uh, thanks," Jada said, laying down. Scree fluttered down beside her and fell asleep imeddiately.

"I'll see you in the morning," Emmie closed the door, leaving Jada in the dark.

Jada listened to Scree snore beside her. _'I'm so happy, everyone is so nice, even after all I've done. I could get used to this, this peace. I hope i never see Venom again.'_

Jada fell asleep a little while later, wishing that tomorrow would be just like today. And that she'd never have to leave.

I think that chapter went really well. Again, i am sorry for the late up date. (Gomennasai!)

To make up for it, I've decided to hold a contest! The contest will be one wear you, the reader, sends in a picture, poem, or other form of art of the cast of After Spartoi! The winner will get to request a filler chapter! (in other words, you get to make the characters do _whatever you want_)

i know there's gotta be some artists among you readers, so please participate!


	20. Chapter 18 day in the life of Jada!

While i was writing this chapter, something occurred to me. I haven't said when the fanart contest was ending. So, here's the date:

it's going to end on July 13, 2013. (Simply because i like the number 13)

so please send in your art work before midnight of that day. (Or as of midnight, that's good too) I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's art work and writing! And so, without further blabber, here is chapter 18! 3

i do not own soul eater or any other reference i make in this fanfiction.

Over the course of the next two weeks, Jada fell into a routine. She woke up along with Emmie and helped make breakfast, then cleaned up while Emmie left for school. In the hours she was alone, she took the liberty of getting a job; she didn't plan on living with Emmie forever so she was saving up.

The job Lord Death had set up for her was a delivery service for a bakery called Garden Bakery. It had worked out perfectly; her ability to fly had made it a simple task. The choker allowed just enough magic for Jada to fly.

_'I feel bad for the people who can't fly,'_ Jada thought happily as she delivered a cheese cake. Lifting up into the air, she flew through the sky above Death City, ignoring the shocked looks below. The wind tossed her hair about as she made her way back to Garden Bakery. _'I hope i don't lose my hat,'_ Jada pushed the bowler hat down on her head to avoid losing her precious gift.

Floating down slowly, she set down outside her employer's shop. The doorbell jangled as the door opened. "I'm back Miss Kohoko!"

"You finished already?" Miss Kohoko raised her eye brow. "If i known that you witches were so speedy with deliveries, I'd have hired one long ago!"

Miss Kohoko was a slim Japanese woman of the age of twenty six; she'd inherited the shop from her late grandmother and had taken up the business. Short black hair framed her face, and a white blouse fit her perfectly. Jada enjoyed working with Miss Kohoko; she was kind and didn't mind that she was a witch.

"Are there any other deliveries for today?" Jada asked.

"Nope, that was the last one. I'll call you if another comes up. By the way, here," Miss Kohoko threw something in a white box at Jada. "For a job well done."

Jada opened the small hand-sized box and inside was a tiny pink cupcake decorated in delicate little flowers. "It's so pretty! And cute! And pink! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, i had a feeling you'd like it."

"I'll see you later!" Jada said as she dashed out the door, eager to enjoy her sweet little prize. Miss Kohoko waved after her.

"Scree, check out what Miss Kohoko gave me!" Jada called to her pet. He had been guarding her broom while she was inside. Scree sniffed the little box, intrigued by the sugary smell. "Uh, uh. None for you, sugar isn't good for bats you know," Jada said playfully, tucking the box into her purse for later. Scree flapped around to her back and secured himself to her. Jada hopped onto her broom, straddling it between her legs, she began chanting. _**"Wings, wings, bats, bats, Bat Broom!"**_

Her broom sparked to life and lifted her up into the sky. "Full speed!" Jada commanded. In response, her broom shot forwards at sixty miles per hour. For a few minutes, Jada let the sound of the wind white out her thoughts. No worries, no thoughts of the past, no thoughts of the future, just the white noise of the wind.

She peered down at the citizens of Death City going about their day. It was strange to be out in the world, having been isolated most of her life. People would stare and gape at her as she flew overhead, but they were getting used to it. Over the short two weeks she'd been in Death City, she'd become a bit of a famous sight. The pink haired witch who gave out sweets, that's what people had been saying.

The first week had been hard though, more than once a meister and weapon had mistaken her for an attacking witch and had sounded the alarm. It was definitely a headache to inform every single student and staff member of Shibusen that she was _not_ an enemy. Some of the meisters had apologized, but most had simply brushed her off. Acceptance was going to be hard to come by.

_'I'm just glad I'm away from Venom now,'_ Jada thought in relief. _'Now that i think about it, i wonder how he's doing.'_

**Line B****reak!**

Water dripped from the ceiling of Venom's dark stone room. He sat in his chair, watching a mouse be slowly squeezed to death by his boa. The little brown rodent let out on final squeak before going still.

"Feh, so weak," He said, looking down at the pathetic creature. The boa opened its mouth and began to swallow the mouse head first. Now bored, Venom got up and left his snake to eat. Walking down the halls of his lair, he thought about his next move. _'Those children besssted Jada so easssily, i __did not think they would get ssso powerful ssso quickly. I was hoping to get rid of them before they got ssstronger again. Why couldn't that boy have failed, __and then__ i could have killed that girl right then and there! Her death would have made her parentsss s__ssuffer as i have, every day sssince they killed _her _in cold blood.'_

A small snake slithered out of the cracks in the wall, and bobbed it's head in front of Venom. "Would you like sssome attention little one?" Venom cooed, petting the little reptile. He slowly rapped his hand around it's head. "Well too bad!" He crushed it's skull in his fist. Blood dripped from his fingers, in synch with the dripping of the water.

"I will have my revenge on them if it isss the lassst thing i do!" Venom hissed. He raised his bloodied hand and licked the red liquid.

**Line Break!**

The hot mid-day sun shone down on Jada, she was lying in a park field killing time until Emmie and Jamie got out of school. It was nice, the quietness; it let her drift between reality and dreaming.

_'Maybe I'll just take a nap for now,' _Jada pulled her hat over her eys to block out the sun. Suddenly the wind picked up and whisked her hat up and away. "No!"

She scrambled to her feet, grabbing her broom and snoozing Scree. She chased her hat as it tumbled through the air. It was headed for the playground, which was occupied by many kids from a local elementary. The wind dropped her hat on a little boy's head.

"Eh?" The boy stopped moving, the world suddenly dark. He pulled the hat off. "What's this thing?"

"That's mine!" Jada cried frantically. She ran up to the boy panting. "Could you please give it back?"

The little boy looked at his friends, they all shook their heads. He smirked darkly. "How about no?"

"Huh?!"

All the kids scattered, running away with Jada's hat. They ran for the street fair nearby and hid in the crowd.

Jada stood at the edge of the crowd.

"My hat..." She moaned. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. "I am not going to let them get away!" She began her spell. _**"Wings, wings, bats, bats, Bat Broom!"**_

She soared up above the crowd. Searching the faces of the many people she caught sight of the fleeing boys. "Get back here with my hat!"

"Help! There's a crazy flying lady after me!" The boy with her hat screamed. Of course no one reacted all that much, they didn't really know what to do in this situation.

"I'm serious! i really need that back!" Jada cried desperately. She was skimming along the ground now, closing in on the kids. But it was difficult because she had to avoid hitting pedestrians. She pulled up beside the kid and reached for her hat. "Just... a... little... more...!"

Suddenly the kid disappeared from her sight. Jada twisted around to see the boy had dropped onto the ground and was now running in the other direction. Jada faced forward again just in time to see a cart full of cloth come into view. She screamed as she plowed into it, rugs, blankets, and other pieces of cloth went flying.

"Hey! Are you okay?" A woman asked as she pulled Jada out of the pile of blankets and rugs.

"Ugh, sort of," Jada pulled a rug off herself. She reached down and fished out Scree. "You okay Scree?"

"_Scree..." _He replied weakly.

"I'm really sorry about your cart," Jada apologized, she began to pick up the merchandise she'd tossed everywhere. "I was chasing this stupid boy who stole my hat and i lost control. If you need me to pay-"

"No, no, it's fine. Rugs and blankets are pretty sturdy. What's your name dear?" The woman asked, while she helped Jada.

"I'm Jada, and as I'm sure you guessed, I'm that witch everyone's been talking about."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," The woman laughed. "My name is Charlene. Now what's this about you chasing your hat?"

"My hat was kidnapped by a naughty little boy and i really need it back 'cause it's a gift my friend gave me," Jada heaved a pile of rugs back onto the cart. "Again, i am so, so, so, so sorry about your cart."

"I told you it's fine, and about the boy who stole your hat... he sounds like my son," Charlene said as she dusted off a blanket. Jada gaped at her. "Really?! I'm sorry, I'm sure your son is a nice kid and i didn't mean to offend you-"

"Calm down sweetie, i know very well my son is a trouble maker. You did nothing wrong," Charlene patted Jada on the head. "Tell you what, finish helping me sell these things and I'll take you home with me. I'm sure my boy will be there by then."

"Thank you," Jada breathed a sigh of relief. _'I'm glad she's not mad at me for chasing her son.'_

"By the way, my son does have a name. My son's name is Kian."

"That's a pretty name," Jada complimented.

"Ha! Tell that to him!"

Jada spent the rest of the afternoon helping Charlene. Charlene was a nice lady, it was fun to help her out. And she enjoyed Jada's idea of using magic to make the rugs fly around. They'd sold more than half of the entire cart by two. It was around three when they packed up for the day.

"I've never sold so much in one day, and it's all thanks to you Jada," Charlene said. They were heading through the streets of Death City for Charlene's house. The cart bumped along on the cobblestones noisily.

"I didn't do all that much..." Jada said humbly. Course on the inside she was brimming with happiness. She'd made a friend outside of work! And she was on her way to getting her hat back.

"Here we are," Charlene said, turning off the street and onto a drive way. Her house was a light yellow raised bungalow with a small garage attached to it. Flowers were rampant across the lawn, there was hardly any grass to be seen; just floral life.

"You live in such a pretty house," Jada said. She bent down and sniffed at the flowers. Scree fluttered down and began to nibble on a daisy. "Oh Scree! You can't eat people's gardens!"

"I'm sure i can spare a few flowers," Charlene laughed. She pulled out a key and opened the white door into her house. "Follow me."

The inside was a cream colour, and there were many pictures on the walls of Charlene and Kian. Jada followed Charlene to the door kitchen, Charlene signaled Jada to not make a sound and to stay where she was. Charlene entered the kitchen and Jada hid in the shadows of the hall way.

Jada heard the voice of the kid she'd been chasing earlier. "Hi mom, you finally done selling?"

_'So he _was _her son,'_ Jada thought, moving her head closer to the doorway.

"Yes, and believe it or not, i sold almost all of the blankets," Charlene replied. "But i did run into a problem. A girl crashed right into my cart."

"Really?" Kian laughed. "Must've been a stupid girl."

_'Stupid girl?'_ Jada thought angrily.

"Hmm, yes. By the way, where did you get that hat?"

"This old thing? Someone gave it to me for free," Kian said in a gloating voice. "It's a really dumb gift though, who wears an ugly hat like this anyway?"

"I don't know, perhaps the girl standing in your hallway?" Jada said as she walked into the room.

"You?! How?!" Kian yelped, jumping up from his seat at the table.

"I happen to meet up with your mom, who is might i add, a lot nicer than you."

"Kian, i really am appalled by your behaviour. Taking this poor girl's hat? I thought i raised you better," Charlene looked down at her son with the dreaded _"I'm not mad, I'm __disappointed__"_ stare that only parents can give.

"I was just playing," Kian whined. "She's a witch too, why should i give it back?"

"Kian!" Charlene cried, shocked by her son's comment.

"It's okay Charlene," Jada said with a sad smile. "I'm used to it. And besides, it is true."

"That is no excuse! Kian, give the hat back and go to your room this instance!" Charlene barked at her boy. He stuck out his tongue at Jada as he threw the hat her. "Kian!"

Kian ran out the door and down the stairs to his room. Charlene picked up Jada's hat and dusted it off. "I am so sorry; Kian was way out of line."

"I'm sure he's usually much nicer, i just happened to come on a bad day," Jada said, taking her hat. She put it back on her head, where it belonged. "Thank you helping me get my hat back."

"That isn't nearly reward enough for what you had to go through, how about some tea?" Charlene offered.

"That'd be great."

**Line Break!**

"So how exactly did a witch end up in our fair city? if you don't mind me asking," Charlene asked as she sipped her tea. She and Jada were sitting at her two person table.

"Until recently i was working for... someone who wasn't exactly very nice. On my last job for him, i met some people, they're my friends Emmie and Jamie. They got me out of that place and brought me here," Jada smiled, staring at the steam from her tea. "I'm very grateful for the new life they've given me."

"That sounds rough," Charlene said. "And what about your parents? Where are they?"

"They... i don't know. The man i worked for took me from them at a very young age, i can barely remember their faces. And I'm sure they've moved by now..." A single salty tear dropped into her mug. Jada wiped it away, embarrassed. "I'm sorry; i didn't mean to get emotional."

Charlene didn't say anything; she just got up and hugged Jada. "You poor dear, I'm sorry i brought the subject up."

"No, I'm really fine," Jada said, fighting the tears in the corners of her eyes. "I just miss them a little is all."

"You don't have to be strong, just let it out Jada," Charlene whispered to her. Jada's will crumpled and she hugged the middle aged woman back, letting the tears flow freely. Charlene held for a good five minutes, comforting the witch until her sobs stopped.

All the while, Kian listened from the stairs.

**Line Break!**

"Come back whenever you want," Charlene said warmly.

"I will, and thank you for everything," Jada smiled brightly, having regained her usual happiness. She waved as she walked away and Charlene shut the door behind her.

"Wait!" Kian shouted, he came barreling out of the house.

"What?" Jada crossed her arms. "You're not getting my hat again, just so you know."

"I... i wanted to say... I'm sorry," Kian said, his head turned away. "I just thought playing a trick on a witch would make me popular at school. I didn't know it was so important to you. Will you forgive me?"

"Hmmm..." Jada thought over just how sincere he was being. "Maybe..."

Kian looked up hopefully.

"But only if you promise to be nicer to girls from now on. We girls are very delicate you know, you should treat us nicely," Jada said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Says the witch who flew head first in a cart and was just fine," Kian muttered under his breath.

"Hey! Twerp!" Jada grabbed Kian's hair and ruffled it affectionately.

**Line Break!**

"Where've you been all day?" Emmie asked her roommate. Jada had finally made it home and it was now close to six thirty.

"Out and about," Jada said mysteriously.

"You're being weird..." Emmie said. "Anyway, come and help me with dinner."

"Oh! That reminds me!" Jada reached into her purse and pulled out a dented white box. "Aw, it got squished."

"What is it?"

"It was my reward for working today," Jada said as she opened it and set its contents on the table. The cupcake was mostly crumbled now, but it was in whole pieces, and some of the flowers had survived the eventful day. "It used to be pretty..."

"Bet it was," Emmie said. "We can eat after dinner."

"Okay," Jada replied.

"Will you tell what happened to you today? You have quite a bruise on your fore head," Emmie pointed at Jada's fore head.

"Eh?!" Jada ran to the bath room mirror and saw a large red bruise on her face. "Awww..."

Aaaaannd end of the chapter. Did people get emotional when Jada was crying? (i sure did, but that's just me)

So this chapter didn't really have much to do with the plot, but it was a good chapter. And yes, i did copy Jada's delivery service from Kiki's delivery service. (I'm sorry studio Ghibli, and i don't own your idea.) Fun fact is that originally Charlene was the name that Jada had. At some point I decided it was too mature for her and I switched to Jada. So... yeah, hope you all enjoyed this filler chapter of a day in the life of Jada. :3


	21. Chapter 19

**I'm back! Well, the story is back. (no one is all that happy to see me...) :p**

**did you all enjoy the bonus chapter "A day in the life of Jada"? I had a lot of fun writing it because i like Jada's character a lot. Anyway, chapter nineteen of After Spartoi will now commence!**

"This is not cool," Emmie muttered to Jamie.

"Just bear and grin it, it'll be over soon," Jamie muttered back.

Emmie grimaced and shifted in her seat. "I _cannot_ stand this. Please Jamie, let's just leave."

"We'll get in trouble if we do!"

"It doesn't matter! Please, i can't keep listening to..." Emmie pointed at the source of the class's misery. "..._THAT!"_

"Did you know, my legend dates back to the twelfth century?" Exclaimed Excalibur for what seemed the millionth time. The whole class of crescent moon was being held captive by the most annoying creature on earth, the holy sword Excalibur. Blackstar had long since run away, leaving only Tsubaki to keep the class in place for Excalibur's lecture on his life. "My mornings would start with a cup of tea, and a biscuit. In the afternoons I'd enjoy a drive and coffee..."

"Okay, maybe we can leave," Jamie admitted. He had a lot of patience, but this was his limit.

"'bout bloody time!" Emmie growled. She leaned down towards D.K. and his partners. "Psst! Can you get us out of here D.K.?"

"I can leave! I'm the son of the shinigami! How would that look?" D.K. hissed at her.

Emmie looked around at the rest of the class; most people were either sleeping or not paying attention at all. Shiro was folding paper air planes out of his notes, Aria was a red headed blob on her desk; her head down and she was sawing logs. Daniel was hiding beneath his desk, Excalibur had been shouting at him all morning, and Olivia was doodling something in her note book. Tsubaki was the only person even trying to pay attention, but even she was beginning to lose strength.

"D.k., i highly doubt anyone will care if you left right now. In fact i think they'd be jealous," Emmie said flatly. She poked the shinigami with her finger. "Come on! I know you can so do it!"

"Fine! Just stop poking me!" D.K. slapped her hand away. Excalibur noticed their conversation and pointed his cane at them. "Fools! You are not to speak when i, Excalibur, am telling of my glorious past!"

"Yes sir!" They all chorused. Once Excalibur's attention was off of them, Emmie shot D.K. a look. D.K. pulled out his cell phone in response, and sent out a text to someone. A minute later the phone rung loudly, startling the students out of their bored stupor.

D.K. answered it lightening quickly. "Hello? Father? Yes, i understand. We'll be right there!" He clicked it shut and stood up. "I'm sorry, but my father has summoned me and my friends to the Death room. As much as we'd like to stay and listen to your enthralling stories Excalibur, we regretfully must leave."

"I suppose that is reasonable enough," Excalibur huffed. "But to help make up for this, i invite you all to a private recitation in my cave."

_'That's the last thing we'd do,'_ the five of them thought as they bolted from the class room. They ran through the empty halls of the school, heading for nowhere imparticular.

"Why did your dad call you?" Jamie asked as they ran.

"I texted that i needed him to call me. He understands just how terrible it is to be around Excalibur," D.K. answered. Madison giggled and Serena smirked, they knew just how much Kidd hated Excalibur.

"Now what?" Emmie asked as they sat down on the steps of the school entrance. "We don't have class again for quite a while."

D.K. sat down and thought for a moment. "I guess... we could have a sparring match."

"Is that allowed outside of class?" Jamie asked, skeptical of the idea.

"As long as a teacher is present, you can fight whenever you want here."

Jamie nodded. "Sounds good then. I'd like to see just what the son of Lord Death can do."

"No serious attacks though, i don't need you injuring my partner D.K.," Emmie warned. The last thing she needed was for Jamie to get hospitalized.

**Line Break!**

The five friends made their way across the track where the NOT class were running laps. Sid was taking notes on a clip board, marking down which students needed more improvement.

"Yo, Sid!" Emmie called to the zombie man.

"Emmie, what brings you all here?" Sid asked.

"We need you to supervise us in a sparring match," D.K. said.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Excalibur's there."

"Ah, in that case, feel free. It'll be a good demonstration for the NOT class," Sid called the Not students together

and Jamie and D.K. warmed up; stretching their muscle, getting ready to fight. The NOT students chattered excitedly, two EAT meisters were going to fight right in front of them; plus it was between the son of Lord Death and the partner of the infamous White Demon.

That and it got them out of running laps.

"I hope you're ready for this, Jamie," D.K. warned his friend. "I will not be going easy on you."

"I don't expect you to," Jamie shot back. He held out his hand. "Emmie?"

Emmie shifted into her weapon form and flew to Jamie's waiting hand. He caught her and the light vanished. Jamie swung the scythe around, brandishing the long blade.

"Heh," D.K. chuckled, his friend had grown substantially in power since joining the EAT class. It was almost intimidating to see him with fighting spirit in his eyes. "Serena, Madison, transform."

"Sure!" Madison cheered.

"Fine," Serena said in a bored tone.

Light enveloped them both and they shrunk. Flying into D.K.'s hands, Madison was the first to finish and reveal her weapon form, a .44 magnum revolver. The wooden handle fit snuggly in D.K.'s hand, light reflected off the silver barrel. Serena's weapon form was just as, if not more, impressive. The long range barrel of the bor rifle touched the ground as Serena finished transforming. Big, black, and dangerous looking was what someone would use to describe Serena. D.K. lifted Serena up and fastened her to his back with a strap.

"Aren't you going to use both of them?" Jamie asked, confused.

"Nah, Serena is a long range weapon. Not good for close combat," D.K. replied matter-a-factly. He raised the revolver up at Jamie. "I only need Madison for this fight."

"Jamie, be careful," Emmie's reflection appeared. "You've never fought someone like D.K. before, or a gun. This will be different from the other sparring matched we've had."

"I know," Jamie tightened his grip on the staff of the scythe. "How should i go at him?"

"Fast and quick, you have to catch him off guard."

"Ready?" Sid asked the two meisters.

"Ready," Jamie answered, readying himself.

"Sure," D.K. replied, flicking his slightly shaggy hair out of the way. (Some of the girls from the NOT class kawaiied at this)

"Three, two, one, go!" Sid yelled. On Sid's mark, Jamie charged fast and low, aiming to get D.K.'s legs.

"Nope," D.K. said as he jumped easily out of the way. He held the revolver up and shot three times.

"Yikes" Jamie yelped, the shots almost catching him.

Emmie's reflection appeared on the blade of the scythe. "I told you to be careful, now focus!"

"I know!" Jamie gritted his teeth and ran at D.K. again, swinging an attack around at him. A swing up and then down, making use of the double sided blade. Jamie caught D.K., but barely; slicing the tips of D.K.'s black button up shirt.

"Oh man, my father is going to kill me," D.K. grumbled, fingering the sliced edges. He shifted into a martial arts stance. "You're going to need to pay for that Jamie, i hate having to deal with my father's OCD."

"I didn't mean to-"

"_**Death God Taijutsu: 'Guilty Stance',"**_ D.K. said ominously. He blurred and disappeared from sight.

"Huh?" Jamie twisted his head around searching for D.K.

"Look out!" Emmie shouted.

D.K. appeared behind Jamie, low to the ground. He swung his leg out and knocked Jamie onto his back. Before Jamie could even react, D.K. shot Jamie in the stomach.

"Gyaaah!" Jamie cried out in pain, clutching his stomach.

Girls and boys of the NOT class screamed in horror, Sid did his best to assure them Jamie was fine.

"Bullets like that only hurt; they won't kill you if they aren't intended to!" Sid said hurriedly. The screaming abruptly stopped when Jamie got up off the ground.

"Geez, that really stings," Jamie winced as the spot on his stomach began to turn red. "I thought this was supposed to be a none serious battle."

"I'm sure that if you can beat a witch, you can handle getting shot," D.K. said, cocking an eye brow. "Jada must be really weak if managed to beat her."

"Hey! We beat her fair and square!" Jamie protested. "We are an effective team and we can beat you easy!"

"Them's fightin' words," D.K. drawled in a fake western accent. He held up his hand and taunted Jamie. "You sure you can fulfill that promise?"

Jamie didn't answer; instead he swung the scythe at D.K., letting go of it and sent it spinning at D.K. D.K. dodged the oncoming scythe with ease. What he didn't notice is that Emmie transformed to her human form. She nailed D.K. in the back with more force than needed. D.K. went flying a good five feet, sliding on the ground.

"Hey! That was a cheap shot!" D.K. yelled, wiping dirt off his face.

"Who said anything about me not being allowed to fight by myself?" Emmie said in a mocking tone. "We came up with this new style a little while ago, instead of Jamie doing all the punching, we'd share it."

"Basically, we alternate between her being a scythe and us fighting together," Jamie said, taking his own fighting stance. "Emmie's a lot better at hand to hand combat then i am at the moment, so this works good."

"Tch!" D.K. spat on the ground, dirt had gotten in his mouth. "You two fight dirty, you know."

"No, we fight creatively," Jamie said with a smile. "Emmie! Move six!"

Emmie and Jamie moved as one, charging D.K. at the same time. Emmie transformed her arm into a blade as she moved and Jamie curled his hand into a fist. Emmie swung for D.K.'s neck and Jamie aimed for his ribs. D.K. blocked Emmie's attack with the revolver but was hit by Jamie. D.K. kicked out, sending Jamie to the ground. He turned and grabbed Emmie's hand and threw her over his shoulder. She recovered in mid fall and flipped her legs down before she hit the ground. Securing her grip on D.K.'s arms she returned the same attack to him and succeeded. D.K. hit the dirt again and the air was knocked from his lungs.

"Shouldn't you stop them?" A NOT class girl asked, tugging Sid on his shirt sleeve. "They're going to hurt themselves."

"That's all a part of a fight between meisters," Sid said. He patted the girl on the shoulder. "Don't worry, they know what they're doing. I think."

D.K. flipped onto his feet and raised his free hand up and shouted out. _**"Beelzebub!"**_

A black skate board materialized in his hand, a white skull on the bottom. D.K. hopped on it and flew up into the air.

"That's cheating!" Emmie shouted at the air born shinigami.

"All is fair in love and war," D.K. said with a smile. "Now I'm going to get really serious."

Tucking the revolver into its holster attached to D.K.'s belt, D.K. switched weapons. He pulled the rifle off his back and pointed it down at Emmie and Jamie.

"I thought you didn't need me in this fight, D.K." Serena said from within the rifle.

"Oh, be quiet will you. I misjudged them a little."

"Oh come on," Jamie muttered from beside Emmie. D.K. had stepped up the artillery to say the least, staring down the black barrel was terrifying.

"Move baka!" Emmie shouted as D.K. opened fire. The ground exploded where they'd just been standing, rocks and dirt flew everywhere. Blinded for a moment, Jamie faltered and D.K. caught him in the shoulder.

"Gah!" Jamie stumbled and went down.

"Jamie!" Emmie went to aid her partner but was cut off by fire from D.K.

"Just give up already, you can't win at this point," D.K. said in a calm voice. "You two don't know how to counter me. Surrender and train some more, then come back in a few years."

"Asshole!" Emmie swore in response.

D.K. aimed the gun and fired, striking Emmie on the head. She fell backwards and fell over. Blood began to pool around her head. The watching students gasped in horror.

"He's killed her!"

"Sensei, do something!"

"Eek!"

"EMMIE!" Jamie screamed.

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Emmie yelled, as she sat up, her hair covering her face. "What the hell D.K.? Shooting me?!"

"Emmie..." Jamie said quietly.

"What?!" Emmie's left eye peeked out from behind her hair, a of pit of anger.

"Your... hair..."

White locks drifted in the wind and settled on Emmie's lap. Emmie's hand went to her head and she felt the missing hair. D.K. had shot off a large amount of hair, she was now missing quite a bit of hair on the right side of her head. Emmie slowly lowered her hands and looked upwards.

"**D.K...!" **Emmie growled. Blood was gushing from the cut on her fore head, dripping down her face, she looked positively demonic.

"Um..." D.K. froze, shaken by her raw anger.

"**Jamie! ****Maneuver**** t****hree!"** Emmie yelled. Jamie jumped up and ran to the space beneath D.K.'s position in the air. Emmie ran fast and hard at Jamie, who knit his hands together in preparation. Jumping and landing on Jamie's hands, Emmie leapt high into the air and flew up. She appeared in front of D.K., eyes blazing with fury.

"Hey, hold on!" D.K. tried to back away, but remembered he was in the air. Emmie showed no mercy as she twisted in the air and did a spin kick to his chest, sending D.K. to the earth below. He landed hard, losing his grip on Serena, while Emmie landed gracefully on her feet.

She loomed over him, still blazing white hot anger. She spoke in a scarily sweet voice. "This isn't nearly enough punishment for you D.K.~, i think i should give you another few kicks~"

"Sensei, I'm scared!" The once concerned girl hid behind Sid, as did all the other NOT students. They watched as Emmie bent down and grabbed hold of D.K.'s hair and hoisted him up.

"An eye for an eye," She said menacingly. Her arm shifted into a scythe and held in front of his face.

"I give up! I give up!" D.K. cried as she sliced. He shut his eyes, waiting for the pain, but it never came. D.K. opened his eyes tentatively.

"There," Emmie said, satisfied with her work. She released D.K.'s head, letting him drop. "Hope you like your new haircut."

"Hair cut...?" D.K. felt his head, feeling his hair. The left side of his head was fine, same as ever, but the other side...

D.K. frantically dug into his pocket and retrieved a square mirror. He looked into to it and saw... half of his head had been cut in buzz cut style. Nothing but black stubble was left.

Jamie walked over to the two of them, laughing. "Not really how i expected things to go, but you got a nice hair cut D.K."

"Not bad, kinda rebellious looking," Serena chuckled as she shifted to her human form. Madison couldn't even speak she was laughing so hard. The NOT class was beginning to laugh too at this point.

"My hair..." D.K. rubbed it slowly, feeling the spikey sensation. "It's... amazing!"

"Huh?!" Emmie gaped at her elated friend.

"Perfect! So asymmetrical, it's wonderful!" D.K. turned his head back and forth in the mirror. "My father is going to kill me, but whatever! His reaction will be worth it!"

Emmie frowned and helped him off the ground. "I don't get you."

"I don't get you either," D.K. replied.

"Um... if i could interrupt," Sid spoke up from the side lines. "You kinda trashed the field."

The five of them surveyed the area and realized Sid was right. The ground had giant holes in it, and more than enough gouges from Jamie and D.K. getting smacked into the ground.

"Oops..." Madison muttered.

**Line Break!**

They spent the rest of the day helping clean up the training field and explaining D.K.'s sudden change in hair style. Kidd had almost had an aneurism when he saw both the wreckage and his son's head. After a thorough scolding for both teams, they left the school at four thirty.

"Let's never do that again," Jamie concluded. He hadn't enjoyed hauling buckets of dirt back and forth, his muscles ached all over.

"I can concur to that," D.K. said in a tired voice. The scolding from his dad had lasted a around twenty minutes.

"This whole fiasco was your fault D.K.," Emmie growled at him. "You screwed up my hair and got us in trouble."

"I thought you were going to dodge!"

"Stop bickering you two," Madison said, whacking them both on the back. "We don't need any more fighting today."

"Whatever, just transform so i can fly us home," D.K. grumbled. Once his partners were in their weapon forms he summoned Beelzebub and flew away.

"And so ends yet another day of complicated school life," Emmie said in a fake dramatic voice, raising both of her hands up in the air. "And here i thought we'd never be done."

"Ha ha, it wasn't that bad Emmie."

"Say that to my hair," Emmie said, pointing to her shortened hair. "Now I'm going to have to fix it. Not to mention put a bandage on my face, he really got me!"

"It's not that bad," Jamie said, brushing the hair away from the cut. The sun reflected off Emmie's hair, turning it silvery, it was mesmerizing. The two of them stood there for a moment, Jamie's fingers lightly touching Emmie's cut. He suddenly dropped his hand, finally noticing what he was doing. "Yeah, you should put something on that, definitely."

"R-right..." Emmie felt a bit of a blush crawl onto her cheeks. _'No, no, no! What am i getting __embarrassed__ for?!'_

"Anyway, i gotta go. Things to do, places to be," Jamie said. He started running down the steps. "I'll see later!"

"Yeah... seeya," Emmie said, watching her partner disappear down the stairs. She pulled out her phone and dialed her home number. It tolled for moment then Jada picked up.

"Howdy-hoo! How you doing Emmie?"

"Fine, could you come and get me on that broom of yours? I need to get home quick, i have to get ready for something tonight."

"Ooh~ is it a date with someone~?"

"What-? NO! just come and get me!"

"Fine~ fine~" Jada said sing song. She hung up and Emmie lowered her phone from her ear.

"Geez! What a dumb question," She huffed, sitting down on the stairs. _'It's not like anyone would go on a date with me anyway.'_

Emmie sat there for a while, contemplating herself and her actions today. It hadn't started out well, but she hoped it would end well. Tonight was going to be perfect, if she could be on time for once.

_'I wonder how much longer i can keep the secret from Jamie and the others,'_ More than once Jada had almost found her costume closet. It had taken some quick talking and a lot of locks to keep her out. _'I hope they don't find out just yet, I'm not ready for them to know.'_

A few minutes later Jada showed up on her broom with Scree.

**Ooh~! Just what is Emmie's secret? (i ****foreshadowed**** this a while back if you look a few chapters back)**

**I'll be reveali****ng that next chapter! (****Maybe****, i might just string you along a little long****er :3)**

**About**** the contest, i realized that there was another way for you guys to enter. (****Thanks**** to someone's suggestion) You could do a one shot using the characters of After Spartoi ****and I'd judge it. (****Just**** put link in a private message or review) i give you all permission to use my characters this one time!**

**Please participate! (****And**** follow, favourite, and all that other junk.)**


	22. Chapter 20

**Hey-oh one and all! Sorry for the late update, I've gotten myself a summer job and i haven't been able to write too much. (plus i have a wedding present to finish for saturday.) I've decided to reveal just what Emmie's dirty little secret is, having stung you along for 10+ chapters. Please enjoy, (and don't hate me too much if you don't like it!)**

**Disclaimer: i do not own the characters (except mine), the songs (drive my soul, by lights), or refrences made in this fnafiction.**

"Ack, I'm going to be late at this rate!" Emmie was running around her apartment like she'd lost her head. She'd gotten distracted with a book and was now bordering on being late. "Jada, do something _other_ than watch the TV, like helping me!"

"How can i?" Jada replied from her position on the couch. She was sitting upside down for reason or other, probably to try and see things from Scree's perspective. "You never let me near your little 'secret closet', how can i help you if it's impossible?"

"Oh sush, you," Emmie muttered. She grabbed her black duffel bag and ran for the door.

"Need me to drop you off?"

"No!" Emmie yelled back. She slammed the door and was gone, off into the night to her apointment.

**Line Bre****ak!**

_Ring!_

_Ring!_

_Ring!_

"Scree~, answer the phone for me~!" Jada whined. Scree looked at her confused and she stared back.

_Ring!_

"Fine~ I'll answer," Jada got up and grabbed the phone. "Hello~?"

"Jada? It's Jamie, is Emmie there?"

"Naw, she left a while ago. She said she was going to her secret thing again."

"Secret thing?"

Jada twirled the cord of the phone, a little bored. "Yeah, she goes there once a week. Doesn't tell what it is or why she has to go. It doesn't even happen on the same night, it's a different night each week."

"Funny, she hasn't said a word about that to me."

"_And_ she has a secret closet I'm not allowed in. This all points to something illegal or illicit, i can't think of anything else."

"That's ridiculous! Emmie would never do something like that!"

"Well, what am i supposed to think? That she has porn mags hidden in there? That'd only work if she was a _guy_, which she most definitely isn't!"

"I say we tail her, I'm curious about just what she's doing."

"Ooh~, am i detecting a slight amount of distrust and jealousy?" Jada's lips curled up in a sneaky smile. It appeared that there was more to the relationship of her two friends than meets the eye.

"Wha-? NO! That's not it at all! I'm just wondering what my partner is up too! Nothing less, nothing more!"

"Sure, sure,"

"I'll be right over, and then we can start looking for her. I'll call D.K. and the others; we could use the influence of a shinigami."

"Kay, seeya then." Jamie hung up before Jada had completed her sentence. She set down the phone and thought to herself. _'I wonder... perhaps they have a thing for each other? If they don't, i suppose i could help push them in the direction of coupledom.'_

Jada stood up and grinned madly, she would enjoy meddling in her friend's love life.

**Line Break!**

Jamie arrived a few minutes later, accompanied by D.K., (still sporting his new hair doo), Madison, and Serena. Jamie asked to see the closet that was so secretive. Jada lead them to it, it was at the back of the apartment, between Jada's room and Emmie's. They were stopped by a large lock, chains, and a note.

Jamie pulled it off and read it aloud. "'Don't look inside, unless you want me to hunt you down and brutally rip out your'-i can't say that!"

"Where did she learn these words?" D.K. said, peering over Jamie's shoulder at the note.

"Not looking!" Madison cried, covering her eyes with her hands. Serena just looked at the note calmly, not fazed at all.

"Oh for the love of-! We're aren't going to be able to trail her at this rate!" Jada pushed her friends out of the way and tugged on the chains and lock; they were solid as stone. "It won't budge!"

"Yeah, you would expect that from a lock," D.K. said sarcastically.

Jada turned and glared at him. "You getting uppity, shinigami?"

"Am i offending you, witch?" D.K. shot back. They growled and hissed at each other.

"Break it up you two, you can cat fight later!" Madison said, pushing the quarreling pair apart. "Right now we need to focus on opening this lock, finding out what's inside, and then tracking down Emmie."

"Maybe we could cut it...?" Jamie pulled on the lock. "Anyone have a pair of bolt cutters?"

"Like anyone would have those!" D.K. said, rolling his eyes.

"Actually..."

They all turned to Jada, who was looking sheepish. She ran off and grabbed her purse from her room, and brought it back to show it. "I happen to have a pair in here."

"There's no way they'd fit in there," Serena said doubtfully. It was true that the purse was too small, being it was only about three inches each side.

"You forget..." Jada said as she produced a large pair of bolt cutters from the small square purse. "That i have a few magic tricks up my sleeve."

She grasped the handles of the bolt cutters and positioned the end on the chain. In a swift movement, Jada sliced cleanly through the chain like it was made of butter.

"Hurry, times a wasting," She said as she pulled the chain and lock off the door. They all held their breath as Jada slowly opened the door. What would be inside? Male porn magazines? Illicitly gained merchandise?

A dead body?!

"What is... this...?" Jamie didn't get it, the items in the closet made no sense. They all walked single file into the abnormally large closet interior, befuddled by the contents. The room was big enough to be a small bedroom, definitely not a normal closet, and it was packed full of...

frilly, girly, multicolored, dresses and wigs.

Madison picked up one of the displayed mannequin heads from a shelf. She pulled off the long haired, orange wing and put it on. "Soooo... is Emmie a cosplayer or something?"

"It's not that, i don't recognize any of these outfits from a manga or anime," Jada said from the large and well used dressing table on the other side of the room. "I spend a lot of my time alone, so i ended up reading a ton most days. I'd know if any of these were from something like that."

"Take a look at these," D.K. said, pointing at a wall covered from floor to ceiling in posters. "They all advertise the shows of one singer, a girl named _'Anastasia of D.C.'_."

"Anastasia of D.C.? As in, Death City?" Jamie asked, joining his friend in front of the many posters. "Does this mean Emmie's a border line stalker fan?"

"I don't think so... but we can't rule that out," Serena answered Jamie's question. "I say we think more later and start looking for Emmie."

"Hey, there's a poster here that's for a show scheduled for today! It says it's at the _'D.C. Music Emporium,'_" Madison said excitedly. "I bet that's where she went!"

"Let's get going then," Jada said. She whistled for Scree, who was watching a nature documentary at the time. Once he'd joined them, the five of them, plus Scree, set out to the streets.

**Line Break!**

_'Okay Emmie, deep breathes. You've done this a hundred times before, you'll do fine,'_ Emmie thought, trying to calm her nerves. There was quite a crowd tonight and she hadn't been prepared for some many people at once packed into one building. _'Just pretend they aren't staring at you, pretend no one is there.'_

Emmie pushed her way through the crowd of people, trying to not be noticed to much; which she was failing miserably at. She began to run around the sides of the large concert hall/dance floor, dodging people as she went. She'd lost to much time to be delayed anymore, so she had to hustle it back stage and meet up with the manager.

_'He's not going to like me being late,'_ Emmie thought grimly.

**Line Break!**

"Geez, big crowd," D.K. grumbled as he pushed his way past a large group of people. They five of them had been asking around for directions to the Emporium, and had been pointed to the lower parts of the city; where many clubs and slightly shady stores were located.

"It is night time and this is night club territory, what did you expect?" Madison said, poking him on the shoulder.

"Less people maybe? It is pretty late."

"Let's just hurry; the Emporium should be just around the corner. If we run, we'll get there before the show," Jamie said, increasing his pace.

"Right," Jada agreed. "I want to know just what this is all about."

"We're those annoying and nosey friends aren't we?" Serena said in a lamenting voice.

"More or less," Madison giggled.

They all ran for another two blocks before they found the place. It was an old theater, large and impressive. The neon signs above the doorway proclaimed loudly that it was indeed the D.C. Music Emporium. The lineup was enormous, reaching down the block and still getting longer.

"We'll never get inside at this rate!" Madison cried, tugging on her short hair. "The show will be over by the time we get in and Emmie will be long gone!"

"Hold on, you forget who i am," D.K. said, walking over to the two male security guards at the front of the line. D.K. spoke with them for a moment and then showed them his student ID. They nodded and opened the doors for him. D.K. gestured for everyone else to follow. They all tried to ignore the scowls from the people in line.

"God, this place is just crazy," Jada breathed. The inside was even more impressive than the outside. The walls were red velvet, rich and deep, and the floors were a black and grey linoleum checker board, the chairs that would have been there had been ripped out to make room for the dance floor. Most stunning was the ceiling and stage, the ceiling had large crystal chandeliers that sparkled in the dim light of the concert hall, and the stage was big enough to be for a production of "the phantom of the opera". Not to mention that there was a close to two hundred people in the building.

"I didn't know so many people were a fan of late night concerts. Or that this place even existed," D.K. said. It was tough to move through the crowd of people. The crowd ranged from everyday looking civilians, to students of D.W.M.A., to street punks. It was indeed a sight to see, with such a variety of people in one place.

"Let's split up and start looking for Emmie," Jamie instructioned. He pointed at a nearby bar that was serving none alcoholic drinks. "We'll meet up there when the show starts if we can't find her, if you do find her, call us. We'll go in pairs, excluding me. Now go!"

"I didn't know he was so desperate to find her," Madison said as she and Serena broke away from the group.

"No kidding," Serena agreed. She watch as D.K. left by himself and Jamie went off with Jada. "Guess he's possessive."

"Or he could just be concerned."

"Sure, he drags us out in the middle of the night because he's _concerned_ about his partner."

Jamie slid along the edges of the packed room, peering over the heads of the crowd on his tippy-toes. He'd yet to catch sight of Emmie and was growing increasingly concerned. Why hadn't she said anything about this to her friends, let alone him? Was she ashamed of her hobby of stalking this Anastasia? If that was what was going on here, he was giving her the benefit of doubt.

"See her? I can't see crap from here," Jada said from beside him. She was two heads shorter than Jamie's 5'10, so she couldn't see over anyone and was stuck with looking between the many bodies on the dance floor.

"Nope, let's get closer to the stage," Jamie suggested. They made their way towards the stage, dodging dancing people and kissing couples who'd taken up residence behind the potted trees along the wall. The techno music got louder as they got closer; soon it was thrumming in their rip cages. Lasers flashed and formed shapes on the wall, hypnotic like.

_'Where is she?" _Jamie gritted his teeth in frustration. This was taking forever; they hadn't a chance in finding her in this chaotic place. Suddenly the light dimed and the music went silent, the crowd cheered and rushed for the stage.

"HEY-! OW!" Jada cried as people shoved her out of the way in their rush, Jamie's fate was much worse though. He was dragged along with the crowd right to the front of the stage.

_'Even if i wanted to, i can't __get back to the bar,'_ Jamie tried to push his way back to the bar, but as denied by the screaming club goers. He managed to pull out his phone and checked the time; 9:45, the exact time of the concert of Anastasia.

A spot light was turned on and aimed at the middle of the stage and the curtains drawn back, revealing a single girl. Her hair was dark ebony, reaching down to her knees. Her skirt was a sky blue, frilly and short; shortened up to the middle of her thighs. Her shirt was a black tank top, paired with a short sleeve zip up hoodie. She smiled, revealing perfectly straight teeth, and raised a microphone to her lips.

"Who's ready to rock?!" She shouted, causing the crowd to go wild. She smiled sweetly ad waved before continuing. "My name is Anastasia; i hope you enjoy my show tonight!"

The crowd screamed back that they loved her, that she was wonderful, etc.

A smooth tune slowly began to flow from the speakers, washing over the audience and silencing them. Anastasia opened her mouth and began to sing. (Advice, listen to the song while reading, it makes it more real)

"_Seems somebody put out the moon_

_Now the road is a mine field_

_I can't follow the way she moves_

_I can't see past the shadow_

_You make the darkness disappear_

_I feel found when you stay near_

_I know where you are here_

_My way becomes so clear_

_When you are gone_

_Will i lose control?_

_You are the only road i know_

_You show me where to go_

_Who will drive my soul?_

_Seems someone burned up the signs_

_I can't expect the hard curves_

_There is no borders_

_There is no lines_

_How can i know which way to turn?_

_You make the street lights reappear_

_I feel bright when you stand near_

_I know what i am when you are here_

_My place becomes so clear_

Jamie stood in front of the stage, looking up at Anastasia; watching her lips form each lyric. _'That voice, i know it. And i know this feeling, i know it because i feel it __every day__.'_

_When you are gone_

_Will i lose control?_

_You're the only road i know_

_You show me where to go_

_Who will drive soul?_

_Will i lose control?_

_You're the only road i know_

_You show me where to go_

_Who will drive my soul?_

Anastasia twirled and flipped her midnight black hair about and launched into the final verses. Shivers ran up and down the audience's back, the sound of Anastasia's voice was spell binding; even Jamie was hypnotised.

_When you're gone_

_Will i lose control?_

_You're the only road i know_

_You show me where to go_

_When you're gone_

_Will lose control?_

_You're the only road i know_

_You show me where to go_

_Who will drive soul?"_

Anastasia let the last notes of the song die off before taking a sweeping bow. The audience roared, chanting her name over and over. Jamie was silent, watching the movements of the songstress as she walked off stage. Once she was gone and the crowd had settled enough, Jamie began to make his way to the back stage area; intending to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

**Line Break!**

Anastasia wiped sweat off her brow as she exited the stage area. The crew was congratulating her as she left.

"Great show Anastasia!"

"Perfect as all ways!"

"See you next week!"

"Good bye, I'll see you all later!" Was her reply to them all. She was anctuious to get to her dressing room and leave this place, to many people. She hummed to herself as she slipped down the hall to her dressing room. _'Not a bad show this week, but i could have been better. Guess I'll have to practice this weekend. But first I'm taking a hot bath when i get home.'_

As she was opening the door to her dressing room, a strong hand grabbed her on her arm.

"I need to speak with you," Jamie said, closing the door.

"I'm sorry, I'm don't do autographs after a show. Please speak with the stage manager," Anastasia pulled her arm out of Jamie's hand. "Now, please leave me alone. I am very tired from singing and-"

"Just stop it! Why are you acting like this?!" Jamie said angrily.

Anastasia stepped back a few steps, reaching for the door handle. "I'm sorry, but i don't know you. Please excuse me."

She opened the door and rushed in and tried to shut it behind her, but Jamie stuck his foot in the door frame before she could.

"You aren't who you say, Anastasia," Jamie said as he leaned in close to her, and narrowed his eyes. "Let's just stop this... Emmie."

**Line Break!**

"Where's Jamie?" Madison said with a sigh. The other four members of their merry little stalking group had been waiting for the last ten minutes, waiting for Jamie to get his butt back to the meeting place. "He's the one who chose this spot, so there's no way he could have gotten lost."

"I'll call him," D.K. said, taking out his sleek black cell phone. As he was dialing, it started ringing in his hand. He pressed talk immediately. "Jamie? Where the heck are you? Your where-? Okay, we'll be right there."

"So what was that about?" Serena asked. She was sitting down and sipping an iced tea, having gotten very bored with this whole endeavour.

"Jamie wants us behind stage, and quick. So let's hustle."

They all followed the shinigami as he walked towards the doors leading to the back stage area, through a winding hall, and straight to the dressing of Anastasia of D.C., where Jamie claimed to be. A quick knock on the door and Jamie opened it for them.

"Come on in, we we're just finishing our conversation," Jamie said with a smile. He tugged all of his friends inside of the large and lushes dressing room. The room was quite large, a full out movie star dressing table, a mannequin for placing your stage costume on, and two dark blue velvet couches facing each other.

Anastasia was sitting on one of them, looking rather nervous. Jamie sat right down next to her and gestured for his friends to do the same. Serena, Jada, and Madison sat down on the opposing couch, while D.K. remained standing.

"Soooo... why are we in the dressing room of a singer?" Madison asked.

"Well, i happen to know the singer quite well. In fact..." Jamie smiled a slightly scary smile as he pointed at Anastasia. "...We _all_ happen to know Anastasia."

"We do?" His friend chorused. They all looked carefully at Anastasia, scrutinizing every detail of her, but couldn't find one bit of the singer familiar.

"Sure you do, isn't that right Anastasia?" Jamie stood up and pulled the songstress up with him. "Or should i call you your actual name? Which one would you prefer, _Emmie?_"

"EMMIE?!" Jada cried, leaping up from her spot on the couch. "What do you mean Jamie? Anastasia doesn't look a thing like Emmie!"

The rest of the group nodded.

Anastasia smiled and began to laugh. "Well i guess that is what i was going for, but this guy here just didn't buy it. Too bad too because i didn't want to say anything just yet." Everyone was shocked as Anastasia pulled off her ridiculously long black hair to reveal long white hair. Emmie smiled sheepishly at her friends, dropping the wig onto the coffee table between them. "Sorry for deceiving you all, but i was embarrassed about this whole thing."

They all just gaped and sputtered, not knowing what to say.

Jada covered her eyes in utter frustration. "Could someone please tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

"Long story short, i wanted a place to sing and that just wasn't possible for me with my street rep," Emmie opened her mouth and pulled out false teeth that were covering her real ones. "I got these fake teeth specially made, bought a bunch of girly clothes, and got myself a stage name. I didn't tell anyone cause i was embarrassed for doing this all, and i was worried that if i did tell someone they'd either laugh at me or tell other people. I love singing and music, and this was the only way for me to enjoy that interest." Emmie leaned forwards and bowed her head. "I'm sorry for not saying anything, and i don't expect forgiveness. Just... please don't tell anyone. They wouldn't let me preform anymore if the people here knew. Please!"

The room was silent for a moment then D.K. burst out laughing.

"God! This is too funny!" D.K. was laughing so hysterically, tears were coming out of his eyes. "You act all tough, like your some big shot, then come here and prance around in frilly dresses! HA HA HA HA!"

"Th-this is why i didn't tell anyone!" Emmie said, blushing profusely. "I knew you'd laugh at me!"

"Ignore the idiot," Madison said, grabbing a throw pillow and chucking it at guffawing D.K. (this only made him laugh harder.) "I don't think this is funny at all, i think it's really neat you preform here. And you sing wonderfully, not to mention that you look great on stage; even if those aren't your real clothes."

"I agree, you were pretty amazing on stage tonight," Serena said earnestly.

Emmie smiled gratefully. "Thank you, at least some of you think so. Unlike the baka on the side over there."

"I think so too!" Jada yelled. She grabbed her friend's hands and squeezed them tight. Scree screeched in agreement with his owner. "I thought it was an awesome performance. But you have to promise me something if you want me to keep silent."

"What would that be?" Emmie asked her hyper friend nervously.

"You have to let me design your costumes from now on!" Jada said enthusiastically. Her eyes were sparkling at this point, she looked insanely excited. "I love making things! Especially fancy dresses and hats! If you don't want me to breathe a word about this, you must let me take control of your wardrobe from now on!"

Emmie smiled; relieved it wasn't something involving black mail type work. "Deal, you can design anything you want, but i get final say on what i wear."

"YES!" Jada squealed, leaping up and down happily.

"I agree to not say anything too," D.K. said from behind the couch and on the floor. Halfway through the conversation between Emmie and Jada, he'd collapsed to the ground from lack of strength in his legs from his laughing. "I may think this is hilarious, but i won't go spreading around the fact you pretend to be a different person to preform here."

"You better not say anything, otherwise I'd have to silence you," Emmie said in a serious tone.

"Hah! Good joke! That was a joke right? Right?"

"Not even close," Emmie replied in a cold voice. She turned to the rest of the group. "Okay, all of you skedaddle; i need to get changed into my regular clothes. Shoo!"

They all laughed and exited their songstress friend's dressing room, pulling D.K. along with them. While Emmie changed inside, they all waited in the hall.

"Jamie, how did you know Anastasia was Emmie?" Jada asked, staring at her friend. "Even i didn't recognize her, and i live with her."

Jamie thought for a moment then answered. "I just... knew, it was just a feeling. As soon as Emmie stepped on stage, i could tell. Don't ask me how, i just did."

"Were you using soul perception?" D.K. said, cocking an eye brow. "Anyone would have known if they used it on her."

Jamie shook his head. "Nothing like that, i didn't use it until the end of the show; when she was walking off stage. It was only to confirm my suspicions."

"You two are pretty close, huh?" Serena said.

"Aren't partners supposed to be close?"

"Yeah, but i doubt any ordinary meister and weapon pair would recognize each other so well. I mean, D.K. here wouldn't have been able to tell it was me unless i wore a name tag made of neon lights."

"Hey! That was harsh, even for you Serena!"

"You guys can't be quiet, can you?" Emmie said accusingly as she came out of her dressing room. "Come on; let's leave before someone sees me."

They left via the back door of the theater, avoiding the staff. After, they said their goodbyes for the night and split up; leaving just Emmie and Jada to make their way home.

"How come you didn't bring your broom?" Emmie asked her witchy friend.

"I didn't think it'd be fair for me to fly and everyone else run," Jada said truthfully. "And it would have made us too suspicious looking."

"Oh, and walking around in your witchy clothes with the son of the shinigami and the rest of our motley crew wasn't suspicious looking?"

"Now that you say that..." Jada face palmed. Emmie made a good point, it would not have made much difference whether she flew or ran. "Guess i should have brought it, huh? Would have been faster to get home that way."

"That is true, but this is fine," Emmie said, smiling at her strange friend. They made quite a pair on the streets of D.C., an albino street terror and a witch. "Thanks for not being angry, unlike other people..."

"What? Was Jamie mad at you?"

"Yeah, he wasn't pleased I'd kept such a big secret from him. He was angry enough to use his _other_ personality," Emmie shivered. Being chewed out by anti-Jamie was not a nice experience.

"Other personality…?"

"I'll explain over some tea when we get home."

"Ah!" Jada stopped walking. "Speaking of home, we kinda broke into your secret closet with my bolt cutters."

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

**And so ends the chapter of revelations! Believe it or not, Emmie's singing skills will be a big part of the plot later on. Again, i am so, so, soooooooooo sorry for not updating all week. (i feel terrible about that!) so i made it up to you guys (hopefully) with this extra-long chapter. The wedding present took longer to finish than i expected, plus i have a summer job and unlike when i was at school, i can't stop and sneak writing during the day. :(**

**Just a reminder, the next Saturday after this one is the end of the contest for the filler-chapter-of-choice, and i have only received only one entry! Please participate! Otherwise I'll feel very depressed. (And that may interfere with the amount of chapters i give out. And yes, that was a veiled threat.)**

**Please**** follow, favourite, ****and participate!**


	23. Chapter 22

**Hullo you all! Tomorrow is the end of the After Spartoi filler chapter contest! If you have a fanfiction one-shot or fanart piece to submit, please make sure to submit it before midnight because that's when the contest ends! (I'll be up and watching my inbox so no cheating!)**

Five kishin hunting jobs, five kishin souls, which was the count that Emmie and Jamie had made in the past three weeks. Between the jobs they'd been working hard on training their resonance to be as strong as possible. The souls had given Emmie a boost in power and she was getting stronger all the time, her speed had increased as well as physical strength. But while she was getting more powerful, as was the black blood. Nightmares showed up nightly, and occasionally during her naps in class. It was making sleep a difficult thing to come by.

"You've been looking exhausted lately, Emmie," Jada had told her. She was very worried about her roommate, more than once Jada had found Emmie up in the dead of night. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I'm just a little tired," Had been Emmie's reply every time. _'I can deal with this, no reason to talk about it. It's nothing, i won't let the black blood get the best of me; never again.'_

She and Jamie were on a mission now, a fairly simple one. A kishin had been stealing girls from a small village and devouring them, then tacking their skulls on a wall as trophies. The village was at it's wits end, so they'd requested the help of the D.W.M.A.

"Mmmm! Delicious young girls, so tasty!" The kishin drooled as he licked the neck of his latest victim with his frog like tongue. She struggled in his grasp, but could not free herself. The kishin opened his mouth wide, revealing a set of toothless gums. "Now hold still girly, so i can swallow you up!"

The doors slammed opened just as his mouth was poised above the girl's legs, Jamie burst in and swung Emmie's scythe form at the frog kishin. The kishin jumped away, narrowly avoiding the attack. It sneered at Jamie and licked its bulbous lips, covering its mouth in sticky slime. "So, has the D.W.M.A. Finally come for me? They should have sent a real meister, not some skinny kid!"

"How many times do have to tell people, I'm skinny!" Jamie charged the frog, and stabbed at it with the end of the scythe's staff. Jamie missed the vitals, but managed to get the slimy creature in the arm; trapping it against the floor. "Bog man froggin, i have come to claim your soul in the name of lord death; resisting will only drag this out."

"Geez, you sound all ominous Jamie," Emmie teased from inside the scythe's blade. "You a little sore from his insult?"

"Please don't tease me when we're fighting Emmie!"

Froggin took their squabbling as an opportunity to kicked Jamie off with his giant webbed feet. Jamie spun away and hit the wall across the room, and slumped on the floor. Foggin yanked the scythe's staff out of his arm, freeing him to fight.

"Stupid kid, i can't eat a boy, they're disgusting," Froggin kicked Jamie's stomach. "And that girl won't be tasty if she's a scythe. Oh well, i guess i can just kill you anyway. Now hold still and get melted by my poison slime skinny boy."

Froggin opened his giant mouth and extended his tongue, getting ready to drip slime onto Jamie. He stopped suddenly, sensing a dangerous presence behind him. Emmie's arm curled around the frog-man's neck, transformed into a deadly scythe blade.

"You know, the number one rule about fighting is _never_ turn your back on your opponent," Emmie smirked, looking quite scary. She looked down at her meister. "Get up already Jamie, I'm in position so get your lazy butt up and fight!"

"No need to be so mean," Jamie replied as he got up off the ground. He dusted off his trench coat and readjusted it. "This was pretty dangerous, i wasn't sure if it'd work or not."

"Fshaw, as if we had any other choice. If you'd attacked him head on he would have melted you right off the bat," Emmie grinned at her partner. "Hurry up and help me kill this guy."

"Y-you were faking it?" Froggin felt the blade cutting into his neck, a small line of green blood trickled down his neck.

"Yep, now die like a man," Jamie reached out and grasped Emmie's free hand, and Emmie transformed fully into a scythe.

"No, please!" Froggin cried as Jamie prepared to slice his head off.

Jamie ignored him and cut clean through Froggin, severing his head. Froggin's body disintegrated and revealed a blood red soul. "Sorry, but we don't listen to the pleas of criminals."

Emmie transformed back and immediately grabbed the kishin soul. "Dinner time! Thanks for the meal!" Emmie opened her mouth and swallowed the soul. She sighed as it slid down her throat, a pleasant feeling indeed.

"Six souls in two weeks, we're off to a good start," Jamie rubbed his stomach, it was still sore. "Can we not do that plan again?"

"Still not enough, we need to get more souls," Emmie yawned and stretched her arms. "Can we head back to the inn? I'm tired and i need sleep."

"Sure, we should probably get this girl back into town and get her home," Jamie gathered the twelve year old girl into his arms. She was shivering and had a permanent mask of fright. "It's okay now; we're going to take you home. The kishin is gone, so no need to be afraid."

She didn't respond, instead she stared at Emmie in utter fear. "B-b-but there's another! Another! **Another!**"

"No she's my partner, she helped-"

"Kill her! KILL HER BEFORE SHE KILLS ME!" The terrified girl thrashed in Jamie's arms, screaming that Emmie was another kishin.

Emmie let her hair fall in front of her face. "It's okay Jamie; I'll get out of sight until we drop her off. It's not her fault, i do look kinda scary." Emmie forced a smile onto her face and disappeared out the door into the night.

Jamie was left with the traumatized girl, who had settled down now that Emmie had left. Jamie looked out the door after his partner. "Emmie..."

**Line Break!**

Emmie leapt from tree to tree, following her partner from above; putting the ninja skills Blackstar had pounded into her over the years to use. She watched the girl in Jamie's arms with sad eyes, Emmie knew that it wasn't the girl's fault; her appearance was very intimidating to an average person.

_'She didn't have to freak out like that though,'_ Emmie thought to herself. She wasn't really angry; in fact she was just tired. Tired of dealing with other people's misconceptions about her, tired of their stares, tired of every single person who hated her. _'I need to sleep, staying up late won't help me any. Course if the black blood shows up i won't get any rest at all.'_

Jamie was running so it didn't take long for them to reach the girl's home. Emmie stayed in the shadows until the girl was safe and sound within her family's care once more. When they'd closed the door Emmie rejoined Jamie.

"You okay?" Jamie asked her. "That girl said some real nasty things, but i doubt she meant it."

"I know, she wasn't her right mind," Emmie crossed her arms, putting up her famous tough girl front. "I don't care what she calls me, it doesn't matter. We finished the job, saved the girl, and got the soul. End of story, happy ending."

"Yeah, but-"

"Let's go back to the inn, I'm tired and i wanna sleep. So no more talking, you're giving me a headache," Emmie didn't talk after that, and neither did Jamie. It was silence even during dinner, both of them getting ready for bed, and going to sleep. (Kidd made them share a room again) Jamie understood his partner needed her space, but he was worried for her. Emmie didn't show any anger or sadness after hearing those harsh words, but Jamie could tell it hurt her a lot.

_'Like getting stabbed in an old wound,'_ Jamie mused. He knew all too well that Emmie had had a rough childhood. She had told him that she was insecure about her weapon appearance, but hadn't said anything about her human appearance. _'If she'd only open up about what's going on inside her head. Then I'd be able to help her, even if it was only a little bit.'_

**Line Break!**

The darkness was thick and black, no light to be seen anywhere. Emmie floated there, hating with all her might for being put in this situation once more.

"Why the hell won't you let me get a good night's sleep for once?!" Emmie shouted into the abyss. She knew her fake was listening. "If you keep this up, you'll push my body to its limit. Then neither of us will be able to fight!"

"_But I'm not the one who calls you here each night, it's your subconscious. It's looking for power, for freedom from the world's chains,'_ The black blood whispered into Emmie's ear. It smiled and twisted it's impossibly flexible body around so its head was in front of Emmie. They were now face to face. _"You crave it, even if you won't admit it. The power, the madness, the freedom! If you'd let me in I'd free you from the wretched rules and fools that keep us from our _true_ potential."_

"Potential for what? Mass murder?" Emmie sneered at the blood. "I know what you'd do if i did let you in, you'd force me to kill until Shibusen killed me. Face it; you'll never get my body."

"_Don't be so sure your body is all your own,"_ The black blood draped its arms around Emmie's neck, drawing its face close to Emmie's. _"I've always been here, from the minute we took our first breathe we we're together. A single soul, a single heart. We are one person, you just won't accept it."_

"You're crazy, I'm my own person and you're not a part of me. Your just some sick virus that managed to get into me somehow," Emmie shoved her fake off her and flew away. "You will never truly be a part of my being."

"_Ha ha ha ha! You say that, but it isn't true!" _The black blood shot itself at her and grabbed Emmie by the arms. It pinned her arms behind her back and held Emmie tight. _"Take a look at these __memories;__ let's put your theory to the test."_

Emmie struggled as images began to flood her mind, pulling memories from deep within her past. They flashed by quickly, only pausing on the most painful ones. Slowly going back through her years of life.

_It showed a memory only a year old, Emmie facing down an armed student of Shibusen. The older boy struck at her, taking out his anger of failing the exams of his final course. He hated her for being one of the special children, a powerful weapon without even trying. He stabbed at her using his transformed knife hand, but Emmie easily dodged and struck him down without any help from her weapon genes._

_The boy sobbed on the ground. "You stupid girl! No one should be as powerful as you! You're nothing, but a monster!"_

_Emmie had snapped at this insult, she'd pounded into the boy; beating him into unconsciousness._

Emmie pulled against the grip of her fake, she wanted to escape this hellish experience. "Get... out... of... my head!"

_The images continued, going further into her past._

_Now it showed the day her parents had left her, going off into the world to work. She'd kept silent the whole time they were saying their goodbyes. Even as they walked away through the security gate, Emmie didn't make so much as a peep. It wasn't until later that night in her new apartment that she released the sounds she'd kept within all day._

"_I HATE THEM! SELFISH, SELF SERVING-!" Emmie screamed and threw the small coffee against the wall in rage. It shattered into pieces, but it wasn't enough destruction. The young weapon needed more to fill her need for violence. She activated her scythe blades and slashed in abandon, destroying anything within her reach. Soon the walls and floors were scraped and wounded, and everything between was in shambles; just like Emmie's emotion._

_After hours of ranting and screaming, Emmie collapsed to the ground in a heap. She no longer had the strength to stand, only enough to sob._

"_Mom, dad... why?" Emmie cried. They'd left her, just like all the others. Was she really that awful? What could she have done to stop it? "Please, i promise i won't fight with people anymore. Please come home!" Little Emmie sobbed in the awful silence of her empty apartment, all alone._

"Stop... it...!" Emmie felt tears prickle in her eyes. "What does this... have to do... with you?!"

The black blood did not answer; instead it increased the horrible flow of images. Pushing deeper and deeper.

_Now it showed a seven year old Emmie being shoved out of a toy store. The store owner had heard of Emmie's dangerous abilities and did not want to take any chances with his merchandise and customers._

"_Get out of here! You're not welcome!" He'd yelled at the small albino girl. Emmie had run away, her long white hair trailing in the wind. She'd run all the way home and hid under her bed until her mother had come to find her for dinner._

"Stop it! You're getting... to close... to that memory!" Emmie tried frantically to free herself, but to no avail. It was already too late; the memory was already materializing before her eyes.

_It was that hated day, the one that was the source of all her misery._

_The day her weapon genes had activated._

_She'd gotten in a fight with one of her fellow classmates over a puzzle. He'd shoved it off the table and set out a Lego set, intent on using it without regard for Emmie's puzzle fun._

"_Hey! I was using the table first!" The little albino girl protested. She grabbed the boy's Lego and tried to shove it off the table._

"_Don't touch it! I get the table now!" He'd yelled at her. They'd dissolved into a fight, hair pulling and pinches on both sides. Soon the boy's friends joined in and helped him shove Emmie into a nearby art table. Paints of all colors splattered onto Emmie, covering her pale skin in a mess of blues, pinks, purples, and yellows._

"_Ha ha ha! At least now you have color weird girl!" The boy had sneered had her. He and his friends had laughed together at her misfortune. Emmie couldn't stand it, her anger boiled within her veins; burning up from her heart to her mind. That was when she activated her weapon genes. Her hand transformed into a long blade as she charged at her antagonist._

_Blood splattered in an ark as she sliced the boy across his arm. Chaos had ensued, children screaming, teachers panicking, and the scorn in their faces; it was enough to break the little girl's heart._

"_I…I didn't mean it!" she'd insisted. But no one listened; they continued to treat her as dangerous beast, as if she were a monster. "He was making fun of-"_

"_Shut up freak!" A female teacher had screamed at her._

"_Monster! Monster!" The children had chanted._

"_Demon __girl!" Another__ adult had cried._

"_Go away!" Screamed a little girl, a girl who'd been Emmie's friend not too long ago._

_The all stared at her, like she was an abomination. Hate filled eyes, more painful than any wound._

_And the blood._

_The blood was all over Emmie, mixing with the paint on her cute pink dress._

"**STOP IT! STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT!" **Emmie screamed. Blades burst forth from everywhere on her body, slicing her fake into ribbons. Emmie stood there, breathing heavy and crying hard. **"YOU BITCH! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"**

"_To prove my point," _The blood cackled as it reformed, it delighted in Emmie's pain filled mind. _"Every fight, every __outburst__, every single bit of hatred was supported by me. _I _have helped you when no one else would. I gave you the power to fight, to hate. You have strength only because i gave it to you on that day!"_

"You... did that to me?" Emmie felt everything inside her shudder. The one who'd done such a horrible and cruel thing to her, the one who'd changed her fate for ever, was right within her the whole. "All these years, you've forced me to become a freak. You cursed me! I didn't want these blades; i only wanted to be me! Not some sickening monster that people stare and sneer at!"

"_Then let me in! I would kill them all for you! No more people, no more stares!" _The blood yelled at Emmie. _"Look at you __though;__ the power i gave to you that day has made you into a __stronger__ person. You are powerful and dangerous, you are perfect!"_

"NO! I'm a freak that's hated by everyone!" Emmie threw her arms wide, showing the small blades that stuck out on her arms, legs, and back. "You made me this! I hate those people with everything i have, but it doesn't come near to how much as i hate you! I may look like a monster, but i will never let you turn me into a true one!"

The black blood sneered and cackled, unfazed by Emmie's proclamation. _"It doesn't matter, I'll set you free one day whether you like it or not. But for now, i shall continue to help __whenever__ i can."_

Black tentacles stretched out from the black abyss and grabbed Emmie's arms and legs. They pulled her down into the inky darkness, dragging her from the hell within her soul. Before she went under, Emmie looked her fake in the eyes.

"I will _never_ let you control me, not while i live and breathe," Emmie growled in defiance.

The blood just laughed. _"We will see, now won't we?"_

Then the black sea closed over Emmie's head and she heard no more of the blood's laughing.

**Line Break!**

Emmie woke in a sweat; panting and even more exhausted than when she went to sleep. Jamie stirred and woke up, awakened by Emmie's muffled screams in her nightmare.

"Emmie...? What's going on?" Jamie rubbed his eyes and sat up, more asleep than awake. Then he noticed tears trickling down his partner's cheeks. He jumped out of bed and ran to her. "Emmie! What's wrong?! Are you hurt somewhere?"

"I'm fine, it was just a nightmare," Emmie muttered. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. "It's nothing, just go back to sleep."

"No it wasn't nothing; you don't start crying just because of a nightmare. That only happens when it's really bad, and i get the feeling that's just what yours was," Jamie sat down on the edge of Emmie's bed, right beside her. "I'm your meister; you should be able to tell me what's going on with you."

Emmie closed her eyes and brought her knees up to her chest. "It... it was the black blood. As I've been getting stronger with each soul we collect, i can feel it getting stronger as well. It'll appear to me almost nightly and fight with me, or I'll just float there in darkness; alone and... scared. But tonight was different."

"Different how?"

"It showed me my worst memories, all the moments i hate the most in my past. It just kept going backwards into my head, right up to the moment my weapon genes showed up," Emmie held up her hand, the one that had stabbed that boy all those years ago. "That day is the worst one out of every fight, every bitter memory i hold."

"Why? Isn't getting your weapon powers a good thing?" Jamie asked.

Emmie shook her head side to side. "Not for me, it tore my life apart. My life would have been drastically different if i hadn't activated my blades so young. I could have been normal, had friends, and maybe..."

_'And maybe my parents wouldn't have left me,'_ Emmie finished silently. "That day changed how i turned out. It turned me into a... freak."

Jamie didn't speak; he didn't know what to say. He'd never seen his partner like this before. "I... don't think you're a freak, in fact i don't think your anywhere near that. And you shouldn't say that you are." Jamie pulled Emmie into an embrace, ignoring her protest. "I don't ever want you to say that again, or think it. Promise me that."

Emmie pushed against Jamie's arms, a fierce blush covering her face in the dark of their room. "Get off of me! And i won't promise something like that because it's completely wrong! What i said is true and you know it, so get the hell off!"

"It's not! It's wrong in every way!" Jamie held Emmie tighter. "I don't care what anyone else says, but i know that you aren't a freak. You're just a girl who happens to be stronger than most, nothing more. Heck, we know people who are twice as scary as people think you are. So stop it, you're being stubborn about something that's not true."

"But... I'm-! Your... wrong-!" Emmie pushed harder against Jamie, but still couldn't break free. "Even i think so! Everyone think so! It's all anyone has thought of me for as long as i can remember what your opinion matters against all of theirs?!"

"Well it should matter! I'm your partner so if you consider anyone's opinion about yourself, it should be mine!" Jamie squeezed Emmie tighter. "If it doesn't matter to you, than what does our partnership mean?!"

Emmie stopped fighting against both Jamie and the tears that had been threatening to spill. "It matters okay? It's just... what am i supposed to think of myself if everyone just calls me a monster?"

"That's not true, i see lots of people around you that think your wonderful. Kidd, Tsubaki, Blackstar, and all of our friends! None of them think your monster, and i certainly don't either," Jamie twisted Emmie around so they were face to face. "Please know that you have lots of people supporting you, even when you aren't with them."

They ended up lying there together all night, Jamie holding Emmie and Emmie clutching him close. Emmie didn't make a sound as tears dropped onto her pillow, and Jamie didn't speak. They just held each other close, ignoring the world and the people of it.

**Line Break!**

_Knock knock!_

_Knock knock!_

"Housekeeping! Is there anyone in there?" A woman's voice called from outside Jamie and Emmie's hotel room. Emmie awoke to the maid's noise as she entered the room and she sat up. The maid stopped when she caught sight of Emmie lying in bed with sleeping Jamie. "M-miss, i didn't realize-! I'm sorry to disrupt your sleep, please forgive me! I'll just get out of here a let you spend time with your boyfriend."

"Uh, wait-! He's not my-" The maid shut the door before Emmie could finish. Emmie was frozen there for a moment. _'Great, now it looks like i d-did it w-with... like i was sleeping with J-Jamie!'_

Emmie got really red and fell off the bed; she was so embarrassed that there was practically steam coming out of her ears.

"Why does everything have to be so difficult for me~?" Emmie cried weakly. She dragged herself off the floor and stumbled to the washroom to freshen up; she could just feel that she looked awful. She rubbed her blood shot eyes as she stared in the mirror. _'Huff, now i have red eyes just like dad; bet he'd be proud. Now if i could just do something about these black circles...'_

She glared at her disheveled reflection and bared her sharp teeth at it. She brushed her teeth before exiting the washroom; she took great care of her pearly white. When she stepped out she found Jamie already up and dressed.

"Huh...? Weren't you still asleep when i got up?" Emmie asked him sleepily. She had started to fall asleep again half way through her tooth brushing. "When'd you get up...?"

"I-i got up after you did," Jamie stuttered. Truth be told, he'd been awake for the last hour. He'd just been enjoying being beside Emmie. Then the maid had entered and mistaken them for a couple, and he'd ended up paralyzed with embarrassment. It wasn't until Emmie had gotten up and closed the door to the bathroom that he'd leapt out of bed and quickly gotten dressed.

"Whatever, could you call for room service? I want something to eat before we leave," Emmie stumbled over to her bed and flopped down. "Wake me when it gets here, i need ore sleep."

A few minutes later she was once more sound asleep. Jamie dialed for room service as soon as she was and they arrived about twenty minutes later. But Jamie didn't make any move to wake Emmie up, he wanted to watch her sleep a little longer.

_'Last night was certainly stressful for her, i hope she'll be alright,'_ Jamie thought as he ate his breakfast muffin. _'The black blood is getting stronger, huh? I should have noticed the change in her.'_

Jamie thought back through the last few weeks. Emmie had looked a lot more tired lately; dark circles were often present under her eyes. And she'd fallen asleep in class more often than not. Jamie felt guilty; he should have figured out that his partner was in trouble. '_But how do help her fight an enemy that's inside her soul?'_

They left the hotel a little later and returned to D.W.M.A. without any further incident.

**Well, i hope this chapter satisfied any fangirls who are a fan of the Jamie/Emmie pairing. I definitely loved the moment when maid lady came in. (sorry Emmie, but i couldn't resist!)**

**Did anyone get teary during the "down-memory-lane-we-go!" part? I got pretty close to bawling while i wrote that. (Course it was the dead of night when i was writing that so that might have just been the sleep deprivation talking...)**

**Again, the contest ends tomorrow at midnight, so please remember that!**

**Follow, favourite, and participate in my contest! XD XD**

**Adios one and all! X3**


	24. Chapter 23

**Hello you readers! Today is the announcement of the winner of the After Spartoi contest!**

**you have all been waiting patiently for the last few days for the results, and after a very long internal debate, here they are!**

**The winner of the contest is...**

**Mooncloudpanther!**

**Out of all the entries, yours stood out to me imparticular. Your one-shot had an easy flow to it and well written sentences, not to mention a good use of only a few characters. I am pleased to award you the winner of my very first contest! (Yay for you!)**

**Just private message me your requested filler chapter, which will be posted as a separate one-shot. (Think carefully now) But there is one rule, NO SEX SCENES.**

**As hard as i attempt, i cannot write them. (Sorry! None of that for this fanfiction!)**

**Other than that, have fun forcing the characters into hilarity!**

Shortly after Emmie and Jamie had returned from their latest mission, Kidd received some worrisome recon information from multiple D.W.M.A. branches around the world.

Kidd was meeting with the directors of those branches through mirrors at the moment, trying to figure out just what was happening to the world.

"There have been six kidnappings this week alone," Exclaimed the director of the European branch, she was an English woman in her forties. "And the number was double two weeks previous. So many ordinary citizens going missing in two months is unheard of, especially when the victims have nothing in common with one another."

"Ve are havink ze same problem here," Said the husky Russian director, his whiskers trembled as he spoke. "I cannot fathom ze reason behind so many kidnappings. It does not matter vhat age or sex, and none of zer corpses have turned up. It is most concerning."

The Australia director, a young man of only thirty two, spoke next. "We need to act immediately, or people are gonna start panicking! Aye can only do so much in my country, with the rising fear levels amongst the citizens. I should hope you 'ave a solution to this."

The directors of the other branches began to add their own concerns and problems, raising their voices as they went on. The director of china said one of the kidnappings had been the son of a wealthy politician and it had set a wild fire to the world of the rich and famous, causing panic amongst them as they worried for the safety of their families. Canada's branch director exclaimed loudly that groups of school children were being taken right from under the teacher's noses.

The shinigami silenced them with a wave of his hand. He looked at them all with a serious face. "I understand that you are all under great pressure from the public, but i cannot do anything at the moment. I have dispatched some of my best meisters to look into these kidnappings, I'm sure they will find something. Until they do, please continue to keep the citizens of all your countries calm. Panic will only work against us in this crisis. You are capable men and women, which is why i chose you for your jobs. I trust that you will take the appropriate security measures. If there are any more issues regarding the matter, please contact me immediately. I want to know of everything that is occurring."

The directors all agreed to keep him posted and then hung up, and once all the mirrors had once again gone blank, Kidd slumped in his chair and let out a long sigh.

_'I can't help, but feel that this ties in with Venom's reappearance. Dark times are coming and i need to be ready, i need everyone to be ready,'_ Kidd though grimly. He reached over to his small coffee table beside him and punched a number into the office phone. It rang for a moment then was answered.

"Yes? Lord Death? How can i be of assistance?" A perky female voice asked.

"Would you please call my son to the Death room? I need to speak with him."

"Right away sir!"

While he was waiting, Kidd dug into his cloak and pulled out some pain killers. His head was almost always under attack from headaches, so he'd taken to carrying pain medicine with him everywhere. D.K. came into the room as Kidd was washing down his five tablets.

"You needed me father?"

"Yes, i would like to know the current state of Jamie and Esmeralda's partnership," Kidd said as he sat back down in his chair, he crossed his legs before continuing. "Their state of mind, the black blood, i want to know if these things are still in the green zone or not."

"On their trip to New York, i got readings of madness coming off both Jamie and Emmie; but when they returned i could find no trace on their souls," D.K. had studied his two friend's souls the entire time they'd been eating lunch that day. He had not found even one bit of evidence of madness in either one. "I haven't gotten any other response since then. I don't understand what's going on; the black blood should be visible by now. It has been active for long enough after all."

"Yes, i have been thinking about that as well and have come up with a theory. Until of late, the blood within Emmie had yet to even stir. I believe it is concealing itself to avoid detection, if it was visible to just anyone it would put both its host and itself in danger," Kidd placed his arm on the arm rest of his chair and leaned his head on it. "If you had seen the black blood within Emmie before knowing why, would you have thought her a traitor and attacked?"

D.K. nodded, knowing that it was a true fact about him. Without even knowing the full story, he would have openly attacked Emmie because he would have seen her as a threat.

"That's why it hides deep inside her soul; any meister would attack if they saw black blood in one of their comrades. They wouldn't trust Emmie's protests and explanations; they would only see an enemy. This is the grim fact about it all, if the black blood had not hidden itself all these years, Emmie would have been killed long ago," Kidd said without emotion. D.K. squeezed his hands into fists, he knew very well that his father was right; as wrong as it sounded, it was true.

"She's lucky to be alive then," D.K. said as he released his hands. "I'll inform you if anything new comes up, so may i be excused now? I have sparring practice right now."

"Yes, you may go," Kidd replied. "But before you leave, i have one more thing to ask you."

"What?"

"Fix that horribly asymmetrical hair doo of yours!" Kidd said angrily, pointing at the offending hair.

"NO," D.K. said flatly.

"Please! It's making it hard to live with you!" Kidd begged his son as D.K. speed walked out of the room. "I can't sleep at night knowing such an asymmetrical thing exist within my house! It makes me sick when i see you in the morning! Please son, i beg you!"

"I SAID NO, GOD DAMMIT!" D.K. shouted as he slammed the door behind him. He growled in frustration as he walk away. He stopped in front of one of the many mirrors inside the school as stared for a moment. His new hair style required constant care; shaving was needed each night and morning. As difficult as it was to keep it, he liked it quite a bit. _'That and it drives my father up the wall.'_

He chuckled to himself as he walked back to his class, where he would undoubtedly end up fighting Jamie in one on one combat and then win in the end.

_'At least i can beat him without Emmie still, but how long will that last?'_ D.K. thought dryly to himself.

**Line Break!**

"Hit harder you dolt! A wimpy punch like that won't even faze your opponent!" Emmie shouted at Jamie as they circled each other on the sparring mats.

Jamie was breathing hard, Emmie had been pushing him for ten minutes now and his hit rate had plummeted. "I can't keep this up Emmie. Besides, aren't we supposed to avoid drawn out battles?"

"No excuse! You should be able to fight with constant vigor, no slacking allowed!"

"I think you might drive Jamie into an early grave if every sparring session is like this between you two," Olivia said from the side lines. "Just how ragged to you intend to run your partner?"

"Till he can fight me head on and win," Emmie stated intensely. She raised both her arms and one leg and prepared another attack. "You better be able to block this Jamie, I'm not holding back."

Emmie closed her eyes and focused hard on her raised leg, tensing the muscles inside. She then slammed it into the ground and jumped. She flew up and over Jamie's head, arms flung forward, ready to embrace the ground. As her hands hit the mat, she slipped her feet under Jamie's arms and pulled; flinging him backwards.

Jamie quickly reached out his hands and caught himself before he hit the ground. He used the spring like pressure in his arms and launched into a flip, landing safely on his feet. With barely a moment to find his bearings again, Jamie found himself under attack by multiple blows from Emmie's lightening quick fists. Emmie slammed into Jamie's chest rapidly, hitting all the weaker points. Jamie staggered back a bit as Emmie launched another wave of punches.

A two hit punch to the solar plexus is all it took to shake Jamie enough for Emmie to finish it. She grabbed Jamie's out stretched arm, positioned her foot beside his leg, and threw him to the ground in a smooth movement of flipping Jamie over her shoulder. The whole fight was only seconds long.

"And he's down for the count!" Olivia cheered in a fake announcer voice. She ran up to Emmie and grabbed her hand. "The winner and still reigning champion, the great and powerful EMMIE!"

"How about helping me up instead of gloating?" Jamie wheezed from the floor. When Emmie had thrown him she'd slammed on his back, knocking out what air Jamie still had in him. Jamie was having some trouble breathing. "I feel like i got hit by a truck. No, a _semi-truck!_ Couldn't you have held back even a little Emmie?"

"You're alive aren't you? If i _really _had gone all out you'd have a slit throat now."

"Point taken," Jamie grunted as Olivia pulled him off the ground. He raised his arms and stretched them to the ceiling. "I think you may be the death of me Emmie, i can only take so many punches."

"Don't say such things; you'll live through anything and everything i throw at you; that's why i chose you as my partner!" Emmie huffed. She flipped her new bangs aside, (as a result of D.K.'s shot, Emmie had to get bangs to cover the hair that was missing), and sauntered off the mats. "You can take a break if you want, I'm going to spar someone else now."

"Geez, Emmie's too harsh on you sometimes," Olivia said, puffing her cheeks out in a pout. Daniel nodded timidly in agreement from the bench nearby.

"Naw, that's just her way of giving me time to rest," Jamie said. He watched as his partner prepared to fight another of their classmates. Emmie had regained her usual fighting spirit a day after their latest job, and they'd eased back into their daily routine. Emmie didn't seem to want to talk about what happened that night and Jamie didn't push her too; he respected the fact that she just wasn't ready to lay out all her secrets yet.

_'Thinking of __secrets__ tonight is a __performance__ for her,'_ Jamie thought happily. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he did enjoy seeing Emmie in her costumes. He thought they flattered her, framed her body in just the right way. Showing her in very attractive ways. Jamie caught his thoughts straying and he shook them away. _'No, bad Jamie! No thoughts about that right now, your training. You can think about that later tonight.'_

"You ready for another round Jamie?" Emmie asked as she left the mats she'd finished sparring on. (The guy she'd been fighting was now face down on the mats and not moving.)

"Yep, rarin' to go!" Jamie cracked his knuckles and got into fighting stance. "Bring it, i can take it!"

"You'll regret saying that," Emmie chuckled as they began once more.

**Line Break!**

Emmie did indeed make Jamie regret saying that he could take her. Jamie had ended up being beaten so badly it was just sad. Aches and pains plagued Jamie's muscles, making it hard to move.

He, Emmie, and Jada were now heading for the emporium for Emmie's, or rather, Anastasia's performance.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Jamie groaned with each step, even his feet hurt.

"Quite whining, i didn't hit you that hard."

"Try being on the receiving end of your punches and maybe then you'll understand why i hurt so much!"

"Sure, sure. Now quite you're whining, we're here," Emmie said dismissively. They'd arrived in front of the emporium and the crowd was already swelling. Emmie turned to her two friends and held up her hand. "Neither of you can follow me around from this point, otherwise you'll end up making me get caught. So stay away until the end. But first I'll show you guys to the spot i reserved for us until i finish, 'kay?"

"Kay," Jada answered for them both. They followed Emmie into the packed concert hall, to the side of the giant room, and up a set of stairs behind a thick curtain. The stairs led up into the balcony seating where only the performers or members could sit. The balcony seating had once been the viewing areas for the rich lords and ladies once upon a time, but now had been transformed into a hang out that was desired by every teen who attended the shows.

"Swanky place Emmie, thanks for letting us hang out here," Jada said as she plopped down on one of the two plush purple couches in area. The couches were placed against each wall a little ways from the balcony's edge, and each had a small table on their sides. "Do you get to relax in this place every time before a show?"

"Yeah, but i like my dressing room better. More privacy," Emmie answered as she sat down beside Jada and Scree. "But I still have enjoy in this place, high up and away from people, but i can still see them." Emmie got up and looked down from the railing. Dancers and club customers alike were dancing to the wild sound of the band on stage at the moment. "Being up here gives me a chance to see people without them seeing me, i like it that way."

The three of them were silent for a moment, not wanting to interrupt the mood of the moment.

"Anyway, i need to get going," Emmie said. She grabbed her duffle bag off the floor and headed out the door. "I'll see you guys in a few, but remember-"

"Don't talk to you until afterwards," Jamie finished. "We know, now hurry up or you'll miss your own show!"

"Don't even think about not wearing the outfit i made you!" Jada called after Emmie as she left.

"Didn't even cross my mind!"

**Line Break**!

The crowd cheered and shouted as Emmie walked on stage, wearing the outfit Jada had designed for her. A tight, black silk skirt with blue mesh fabric that waved and flowed in bunches as Emmie walked, pairing beautifully with her tall black boots. Her top, a sea blue spaghetti strap with wave like symbols that seemed to move with Emmie. To top it all off, a petit navy blue top hat with black mesh perched on her head. The mesh hung over Emmie's eyes, giving her a sultry and mysterious look. Her wig today: a short brown bob that curled up at the ends.

Emmie walked over to the microphone stand, her boot's heels clicking as she went. She smiled her fake tooth smile as she spoke into the sound system. "Are you all here to see me? I feel, like, so flattered!"

The screamed at her cutie act, fans were taking as many pictures as they could.

Jamie just huffed at it, he didn't buy it for one moment.

Emmie pointed to the stage crew and winked at them. "Hit it boys!"

The speakers hummed to life and Emmie song began to play. Emmie licked her lips as the intro finished and she started singing.

"_She moved into the house next door_

_Said she'd never been in love before_

_Tried the best she could to hide herself away_

_But every time she turned the lights down low_

_He thought he heard a voice calling out so slow_

_Come and take me away from all this pain_

_And he said:_

Emmie danced and twirled to the beat, making her hair bob and sway in time with her skirt.

"_I see you there sitting there at the window sill_

_Looking for shooting stars_

_I wanna get closer and closer still_

_I wanna take over your heart~_

_You will be mine, mine~!_

_Over time, time~!_

_You're gonna find, find~!_

_I'll make you mine, mine~!_

_Every morning when she came outside_

_He tried to be the one to catch her eye_

_But she would only turn away and hide~_

Emmie felt the rush she always got when she sang, her very soul was singing. As she sang more, she felt herself get closer to her climax of adrenaline.

"_He started to concoct a plan_

_To get her to return the feelings that he had_

_To show her how he thought that were entwined~_

_I see you there sitting at the window sill_

_Looking for shooting stars_

_I wanna get closer and closer still_

_I wanna take over your heart_

_You will be mine, mine~!_

_Over time, time~!_

_You're gonna find, find~!_

_I'll make you mine, mine~!_

_Little love letters written in red_

_Folded up, put away next to bed, oh~_

_Little crushed hopes every day_

_Waiting in the wings to spirit her away_

_I see you there sitting at the window sill_

_Looking for shooting stars_

_I wanna get closer and closer still_

_I wanna take over your heart_

_You will be mine, mine~!_

_Over time, time~!_

_You're gonna find, find~!_

_I'll make you mine, mine~!_

_You will be mine, mine~!_

_Over time, time~!_

_You're gonna find, find~!_

_I'll make you mine, mine~!_

Emmie stood there on stage, panting from pure high she'd gotten during the song. It was what made her so enthusiastic and determined to sing, it was in a way her addiction. There was nothing else like it. She took a sweeping bow, and then exited the stage.

_'This is definitely worth the trouble,'_ Emmie thought with satisfaction.

**Line Break!**

Jamie had watched Emmie closely the whole time from the balcony, ignoring his aching legs as he stood there. It was halfway through the song that he noticed something very strange. Emmie soul was shifting, seeming to change shape with lyric she sang. He felt his own soul being pulled to Emmie's, even though they weren't trying to resonate.

The feeling grew stronger and stronger along with the beat of the music. Jamie's hand went to his chest and he could practically feel his soul pulsing. And then, he saw something that blew him away.

They were faint at first, but slowly a pair of small wings sprouted from Emmie's back. Jamie could feel the power of these wings even from so far away. Pale green and clear feathers fluttered as Emmie moved about, shining in the stage lights. Jamie could feel his soul grow in strength, and his muscles lose their ache. He felt completely revitalized.

And then the feeling was gone. Emmie had finished her song and disappeared off to her dressing room and Jamie felt normal again.

"What... was that...?" He said aloud. His soul was once again as it was before, but his muscles were less tired. _'Did Emmie's singing... do that to me?'_ He turned to Jada, who'd returned to the couch. "Did you feel what i just felt?"

"Feel what? You get tingly in _that _spot from hearing Emmie sing?" Jada teased him.

"NO! I felt... my soul get stronger. And my body, i didn't feel sore anymore," Jamie shook his head in confusion. Just what had happened here? "And not only that, i saw Emmie's soul change. She had wings for a moment, tiny transparent wings on her back. It... It was beautiful."

"That sounds incredibly unbelievable, not to mention strange," Was Jada's answer. She pulled on Scree's wings, extending them to their full length. "But who can tell when it comes to you guys. And who am i to talk? I'm a witch, so Emmie suddenly growing wings shouldn't be too weird."

"What wouldn't be weird?" Emmie asked as she came onto the balcony, she had changed back into her street clothes.

"You growing wings, according to Jamie," Jada pointed at the meister. "He said you grew wings while you were singing."

Emmie stared for a moment at her friends, and then spoke to Jamie. "Did you smoke something while i was gone?"

"I'm not lying! I really did see you grow wings!"

"Exactly how would i grow wings? Do i have a grigori soul or something?" Emmie said in a mocking tone.

"That could be it," Jada commented.

"Pfft, as if! My mom's the one who has a grigori soul. If i had one, it'd be like winning the lottery a hundred times over and then the world ending. There is no way i could have a grigori soul!"

"I know what i saw, I'm not lying," Jamie insisted. "Maybe we could go see Nigus tomorrow, see if she can help us."

"Whatever floats your boat," Emmie said with a shrug. "I guess i wouldn't hurt if we checked it out, but i still think you're wrong."

**I am so, so, so, soooooooooo sorry for not ****updating**** this week!**

**My**** life just got so busy this week, i wasn't able to even touch**** my computer for more than half an hour. I'll try to not let it happen again. (****But**** with my life, who can tell?)**

**I'm really, really, really, REALLY sorry if my terrible accent writing offended anyone. I've never left the country, let alone the continent so I have no real idea of what people in other places sound like. (This was based off of stereo types and my younger siblings impressions.)**

**Again****, thank you to all who participated in the contest and i look forward to your comments and reviews in the future!**

**(Disclaimer: i own nothi****ng!)**


	25. Chapter 24

**Hello everyone, i have an announcement to make.**

**I have an unforgivable mistake, (not to mention a really dumb one), with this fanfiction.**

**I didn't publish chapter 21.**

**i got a complaint about someone not being able to find it, but i wrote it off as a bug in their computer. Eventually, as i was reviewing my chapters, i found that chapter 21 did not exist.**

**I am soooooooooooooooooo very sorry. (Please don't kill me!) I'm going to post the missing chapter as a one-shot, so that should fix things. I promise this will never happen again.**

"You said you saw Emmie growing wings, right? Or am i mishearing you?" Nigus said to the three friends who'd come seeking her help and expertise. She shuffled through files and papers while she talked. "A grigori soul is rarer than almost anything in the world. If both Maka and Emmie hear had one... well let's just say i wouldn't be able to believe it."

"I know what i saw, i wouldn't lie about something like this," Jamie insisted.

"Don't think I'm dismissing your claim Jamie," Nigus turned to face them. "It's that... it sounds really impossible."

"Isn't there some way for you to check? I tired and i wanna go sleep, so let's get this over quickly," Emmie said tiredly as she stifled a yawn. The high from preforming was tragically short live and often left her drained afterwards.

"How can i? I'm a weapon, not a meister; i don't have soul perception," Nigus tapped her foot thoughtfully for a moment then thought of something. "I know someone who can help you though; he's got enough power to be able to tell for sure."

"Really? Who is he?" Jada asked eagerly. She was rather curious to just who this meister was.

"He doesn't socialize very well, but he's a close friend of mine Emmie's parents," Nigus pulled open one of the draws to the filing cabinet and pulled a binder out. "He's one of the greatest meisters to ever graduate and his skill in battle is quite famed."

"Quite making it all dramatic and just tell us Nigus, i wanna know just who this guy is," Emmie was growing impatient. Not to mention her stomach was beginning to tie in knots; Nigus couldn't be talking about one of the few people she'd ever held real fear of, right?

"Fine, fine," Nigus laughed. She set the binder down on the desk and opened it up for them to see. She picked up a photo from inside; the man in the picture had a scar across his face and was looking at the camera with a scowl. Emmie felt her stomach drop at the sight of the picture. "This man here is doctor Franken Stein. He's an old colleague of mine and one of the top meisters working for Shibusen. If anyone will be able to figure this out, it'll be him. His soul perception is better than even Maka's."

"That's great! Thank you Nigus! Could you tell us where he lives?" Jamie asked excitedly.

"He lives on the outskirts of the city, here's the address," Nigus quickly wrote down the numbers and handed them to Jamie.

Jamie turned around and grinned at Emmie. "Looks like this'll be easier to take care of than i previously though, eh Emmie?"

But he was talking to air by then, Emmie had disappeared. Jamie looked around confused. "Jada did you see where Emmie went?"

"I saw her bolt out the door a moment ago."

"Why didn't you stop her?!" Jamie ran after his escaping partner. He skidded around the corner in the hallway and saw Emmie rushing for the exit. "Hey! Emmie wait! Why're you running away?!"

"I refuse to go see that psycho! Do you have any idea of what he tried to do to me?!" Emmie felt goose bumps prick on her skin at the memory. "He tried to cut me up and experiment on me~! You can't even begin to imagine how traumatizing that was!"

"Come back Emmie!" Jamie called. He ran even faster, trying to catch up to his seemingly sonic speed weapon. "We need to go there to find out if you have a grigori soul!"

"FUCK NO!"

"Need a lift?" Jada flew up to Jamie's side on the broom from the dispensary. (Note: she can make any broom fly, but she put a lot of customization into her personal one which is why she's so attached.)

"Thanks!" Jamie grabbed onto Jada's outstretched hand and jumped onto the the broom. Jada put the pedal to metal, or rather magic to the broom, and sped after Emmie's retreating figure. They caught up easily.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Emmie screamed as Jamie dropped off the broom and tackled her to the ground. They rolled and landed in a heap. They both groaned in pain.

"What the hell was that for?" Emmie managed to say.

"I'm sorry, but i can't have you running away," Jamie pushed himself up with his arms and found himself in a rather awkward position a top Emmie. His legs were straddling Emmie's waist and his hands had pinned her arms. They both froze as they realized what it looked like. Jada wolf whistled at the two of them.

"Get a room love birds!" She crowed with a laugh. Skree was squeaking in such a way that could only be taken as bat laughter.

"Get off of me idiot!" Emmie snarled at Jamie. She was dying from embarrassment.

"I am, i am!" Jamie hissed back. He was equally embarrassed. They we're so very lucky that no one, except a witch and a bat, were here to see this. Of course, at that very moment, Blackstar and Tsubaki entered the hallway from an adjoining one.

Blackstar took one look at them and flew into hysterical laughter. "So skinny boy decided to make a move on her already? Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Oh my!" Was Tsubaki's only comment as she blushed and covered her mouth in shock.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Emmie and Jamie shouted at the same time. They flew apart so quickly that most people wouldn't have been able to see them move. They both started to make hurried explanations.

"He was chasing me-" (Emmie)

"I didn't mean too, i would never-" (Jamie)

"-and then he tackled me-" (Emmie)

"-I not the type to-" (Jamie)

"-and we got tangled up-" (Emmie)

"-would never commit such an act." (Jamie)

"-and it was just one big accident. On his part that is." (Emmie)

Tsubaki walked up to them, her face composed once more. She stared Jamie straight in the eye, searching for something; and then bowed. "I approve of your relationship, please take good care of Emmie."

"TSUBAKI!" Emmie screamed at her teacher. Jamie turned a very deep red and fell backwards. Blackstar, Jada, and Skree were rolling around on the ground in uncontrollable laughter.

Nigus came out to see just what the noise was all about and was met with the sight of a beat red Emmie yelling at the top of her lungs at a laughing Tsubaki, Jamie passed out on the floor, and three fools laughing on the ground. She shook her head and turned to retreat to her office. "I don't even want to know."

**Line Break!**

After a very heated explanation from Jamie and Emmie, plus an apology from Tsubaki, the three and their bat managed to get on their way. Emmie and Jamie were still very unsteady with their emotions and couldn't even look at each other. Jada found this to be the most amusing thing in the world.

_'Now i know that they have at least some __chemistry__ for sure, now i just need to push them in the right directio__n,'_ Jada snickered to herself. Slowly, but surely she make these two fall in love. But with Emmie's unwillingness to let anyone in and Jamie's newbie status with women, it was going to be a while yet.

"S-so how close are we to his house?" Emmie stuttered without looking at Jamie, who held the address.

"We're almost there, j-just a little further this way," Jamie stuttered back. They'd made their way to the very edges of town and were nearing the resident of the doctor. Emmie's hands shook and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She was dreading this more than anything she'd been forced into before.

She could remember vividly that the doctor had tricked her into coming into his home when she was only seven. He'd drugged her tea, knocking her out without her even knowing. She was told by her parents later that she'd been only seconds away from being sliced open. Emmie didn't even want to think about what Dr. Stein had wanted to do to her.

"I'm guessing this is the place?" Jada said as they came to a stop in front of an odd house. The house was covered in stitch work, making it look like it'd been cut apart and then stitched back together. There wasn't even one bit of greenery in sight; the whole place seemed to be bare of life with the exception of a large blackened and dead tree in the yard.

"Well, this doesn't scream quack scientist at all," Jada said sarcastically. She walked up the cracked path to the front door, Jamie and Emmie trailing behind. With little or no fear at all, she bravely rang the doorbell. There was a pause if silence as they all stood there, waiting for someone or _something_ to answer the door.

Suddenly the door handle began to turn and jiggle. Emmie, forgetting her embarrassment from earlier, grabbed onto Jamie's arm and clenched it tight. Jada had lost her nerve and joined Emmie in cowering behind Jamie. Skree shivered on his owner's shoulder. The door creaked slowly open and they all tensed up in suspense. A face appeared from the darkness, and Doctor Stein stepped out into view. His eyes raked over the terrified teens in a cold and calculating gaze. He stepped out further when he caught sight of Emmie, revealing an object in his gloved hands.

"HE HAS A KNIFE!" Jada shrieked. The doctor was indeed holding a knife in hands, which were covered in surgical gloves. Emmie and Jamie took one look at the knife and skittered as far back as the gate they'd entered from. They all cowered behind the fence.

The doctor raised one of his bloody hands and began to crank the screw that was protruding from his skull. All that could be heard was the sound of the screw turning. The screw made a clinking sound and Stein raised his head and looked the three dead on. A smile spread across his lips. "Why, if isn't little Esmeralda. All grown up i see, how have you been?"

"What do we do? Is he going to kill us?" Jada whispered to her friends. Jamie gulped and stood up.

"D-doctor Franken St-stein, we've come to ask you of something," Jamie said in a wavering voice. Just looking at Stein's eyes made his legs feel weak.

"And what would that be?"

Jamie looked down at Emmie and they locked eyes for a moment, a silent conversation taking place.

It went something like this.

"_Don't you dare say it Jamie!"_

"_But we need to know!"_

"_I don't give a shit! Let's get out of here while we can still breathe!"_

"_No! I'm going to ask!"_

"_No!"_

"_Yes!"_

"_No!"_

"_Yes!"_

"_Jamie, so help me, if you open that mouth of yours i will personally string you up."_

"_I'll find a way out of that later."_

"We came to ask if you'd take a look at Emmie's soul, i believe i saw her grow wings while she was... uh... training," Jamie said, ignoring Emmie's fierce protests. "We think she may have a grigori soul."

"Hmmm... interesting diagnosis. And you're sure of that?" Stein's grin got wider when Jamie nodded. "Then by all means, please come in so that i may examine her more closely."

"N-not until you tell us why you're covered in blood!" Jada shouted from behind Jamie.

"Oh, you mean this?" Stein raised the red blade to the light. "I was just cooking dinner is all, one needs a knife to cut a fish, no?"

_'I don't believe him for even a second,'_ Emmie thought fearfully. But despite all of her survival instincts screaming for her to run, she filed into the house along with Jamie and Jada. Stein shut the door behind them, cutting them off from the world and any help that might come.

**Line Break!**

The inside of Dr. Stein's house was no less creepy looking, grey, dark, and gloomy. Not to mention that there were surgical tools lying around on every surface.

"Sit down, I'll wash up and then we'll talk," Stein left them in his living room and the three sat down gingerly.

"This was a very, very, very bad idea," Emmie dug her finger nails into her palms as she balled up her fists. She could feel the scalpel already.

"We'll be fine... i think," Jamie said.

"I've seen some creepy stuff before, but this place takes the cake," Jada said as she examined the interior of the doctor's house.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Stein said, rematerializing into the room. "Before we get started though, I'd like to ask Esmeralda a question." He sat down with the trio and smiled at Emmie. "I do hope that you don't have any lingering anger towards me from that little misunderstanding a few years back."

Emmie shivered at the his words and Jamie noticed that she was getting to the point where she may start unsheathing her blades. This wouldn't help them get the help of the doctor at all. He cleared his throat to distract Stein's attention from his partner. "Doctor Stein, as i said outside, i saw Emmie's soul grow wings earlier tonight. But since I'm still inexperienced with soul perception i wasn't able to get a good enough look. We we're hoping that with your talent and ability that you would be able to tell for sure."

"Grigori souls extremely rare, I've only ever seen one and that was Maka's. It is indeed interesting that her daughter could have one as well," Stein's glasses flashed as the gears in his brain began to turn. The girl in front of him was now an even more intriguing test subject, a weapon that had activated so early on in life _and_ had a grigori soul. His fingers itched to dissect her. "I'll take a look, but in exchange she must let me dissect her after."

"NO," Was Jamie and Emmie's immediate answer.

"Ha, ha, that was a pretty quick answer. Don't worry i was only kidding," The doctor laughed. Then he got serious again. "Okay, my real condition is that you keep me up dated on what happens to her soul from now on. And that includes the black blood attacks."

"How do know about that?!" Emmie said in horror.

"I pried that information out of your parents a long time ago," Stein smirked. "I was curious to why they had been so secretive when you'd first used your weapon gene, so i cornered them and had a nice talk."

_'He is completely and utterly insane. And my parents are traitors!'_ Emmie screamed inside her head. No wonder Stein had wanted to dissect her.

"So do we have a deal?" Stein asked.

Jamie and Emmie exchanged glances, and Emmie nodded; they'd come this far, no point in stopping now.

"We have a deal," Jamie replied.

"Good, now if you'll hold still..." The doctor stared at Emmie, who held stone still, and began to examine her soul. First he made out her soul's characteristics. _'__Feisty__, independent, angry,__ and... sad. A strange combination.'_ Stein mused. He studied her soul as it flickered inside her and caught sight of something. There were spidery black lines, faint, but very much there. They were in the shape of wings.

"Well?" Emmie asked nervously. She was unnerved by Stein's staring. "Is there anything there?"

"There is something, but i wouldn't call it a sign of a grigori soul," Stein got up and walked over to a nearby computer desk, where he opened up a file that was lying about. He held up some X-rays. "This is a normal soul." He pointed to a picture from an ordinary meister. Stein put down the first X-ray and picked up another "And this, is a grigori soul. Specifically Maka's. Esmeralda's soul doesn't look like either of them."

"So the verdict? Do i have one or not?" Emmie asked impatiently.

"I can't tell, but you do have signs of black blood activity showing," Emmie paled at this news. Stein carried on. "I can see something simalar to wings, but it definitely wasn't real ones. Most likely it's just a shape that you desired and the black blood formed."

"It's always that... always the blood," Emmie let out a disappointed sigh. "So i don't? It was just a trick?"

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility just yet. Jamie, I'd like you to keep an eye on her soul; tell me if anything changes or if the wings show up again."

"Okay," Jamie said. After that, Stein had offered them all drinks. Which Emmie had refused for all of them. (She had a feeling that they contained a little more than tea.) They left straight after, all exhausted and ready for bed.

"You know, we still have to go to school tomorrow," Emmie said with a groan as she looked at the time on her phone: 11:22.

"Don't remind me," Jamie groaned back.

"At least i get to sleep in~!" Jada said, rubbing in her freedom from the education system.

"You know Jada... I've been thinking..." Emmie grabbed her friend's signature bowler hat and placed it on her own head. "I might be able to get you enrolled at Shibusen. After all, we all need to get basic education; even witches."

"What?! Nooooo~! I can see my late night life fading away even now!" Jada wailed.

"It was bound to come up sooner or later. The least you can do is take a few classes," Jamie tsk'd while wiggling his finger at Jada. "You don't have to take the full curriculum, just a few subjects."

"Awwww~!" Jada let dramatic tears flow down her cheeks. "Oh woe is me, newly freed from oppression and now I'm being forced right back into another!"

"It won't be that bad," Emmie laughed. Jamie joined in and soon they were all laughing, though it took a while to get Jada to come around.

**Line Break!**

Emmie lay awake in bed, thinking about the evening. First she'd been lead to believe her soul was a grigori, then she'd been tackled into a situation that was beyond embarrassing, then she had to confront a creep that made everyone shiver, and in the end nothing had been resolved. _'I didn't get any information out of this! All i have are even more mysteries to solve!'_

"_It would become clear if you let me explain~" _Said a certain creature.

_'Go away; I'm sick of listening to you every night. I haven't had a decent sleep in days!'_

"_I was just suggesting a solution to your problem, but if you want to ignore me, be my guest"_

_'Whatever, just leave already.'_

"_Tell you what, I'll __let you off the hook tonight, but only this once," _The blood purred to Emmie.

_'Why? So you can do it double time tomorrow?'_

"_No, it's just that i need to make sure you stay healthy. Can't have injuring yourself or getting sick. It'd be bad news for me too."_

_'Just leave!' _Emmie forcefully pushed the blood away, back into the abyss of her soul. It left, giving Emmie the ability to sleep peacefully for the first time in a long while.

**And Stein has entered the ****building****! (****Yay****!) Dr. Stein is one of my favouri****te characters in ****Soul Eater and i am so glad he gets to join in now. If anyone is wondering about the special filler chapter, it'll be published soon, but ****separate**** from the actual series. Enjoy and see you next time!**


	26. Chapter 25

**Hello again! Welcome to the twenty fifth chapter of After Spartoi! (Streamers and sparklers explode everywhere!)**

**To celebrate, I've decided to start a Q and A corner at the end of each chapter. Just PM me your questions and I'll answer them. (Or have the characters answer themselves.)**

**Thank you for staying with me thus far, and i look forwards to writing more!**

_Four weeks later..._

Emmie was lying on her back on her bed dressed in her night clothes still with her head over the edge, trying to figure something out. She yelled for Jada to come into her room.

"What? Need something Emmie?" Jada asked, popping her head into the door way.

"I don't know... i feel like something's missing... like _I'm _missing something in the big picture."

Jada came in and sat down beside Emmie. "What big picture? The big picture, as in the universe's big picture, or something closer to home?"

"Closer to home. Specifically the big picture involving Venom. I don't get it, it's been way to long since... well... you first attacked us on his orders, and yet he hasn't done anything since. It's way to calm in my opinion, like it's..."

"The calm before the storm?" Jada nodded. "It does feel like that, i would have guessed he'd have done something or other by now. This quiet doesn't seem like him at all."

"I know, the first few days after we met you we were on our toes twenty-four seven. Now it's like he's given up."

Jada shook her head and grimaced. "No, Venom would never give up so easily. One defeat is never enough to chase him away. He's probably planning something big."

"How big?"

"Catastrophic-life-ruining-event-big."

"Yikes," Emmie sat up and stretched. "Guess me and Jamie should stay in Death City for a while. Don't wanna risk being caught by surprise."

"You should go tell him that then."

"All the way across town? Why would i when i can just call?"

"Phones don't work very well when your bat chews through the cords."

Emmie grumbled a few swears before she got up to get dressed. "Great, now i have to get a new phone cord. I'll buy one on the way back."

"Kay kay~" Jada sang as she went back to the kitchen. She picked up her burping bat and gave him a good scratch on the head. "Good job, now she'll have to spend time with him."

"Scree~" Scree said.

**Line Break!**

Emmie climbed out her window once she was dressed and headed for the roof via the fire escape. She bent low, stretching her calf muscle. "Okay, let's see if i can pull this off."

She backed up the opposite edge of the flat roof and tensed, readying herself for the jump. Then she burst forwards, sprinting, and jumped off the roof. She streamed through the air and landed on the roof of the next apartment building. She landed without any fault.

"Perfect!" She felt giddy; she hadn't really known if she was far enough jumped to make it. She tensed again and began to jump from one building to the next, leaping over the close knit streets below. If there was one advantage to living in this tight packed city, it would be that you can get across town without ever having to touch the ground.

**Line Break!**

"NOOOO! Don't burn, please!" Jamie cried as he pulled his smoking/chard lunch off the stove. He'd only looked away for a moment to check his email, and now his lunch was ruined. Again. "Every time... every single time...!"

Rapping from the window in his bedroom distracted him from his lamenting.

_'Must be a pigeon or something...'_ He thought, annoyed by the disruption. Course the bird* he was thinking of wasn't the one in his window.

"EMMIE?!" He sputtered when he saw his albino partner sitting on the window sill. He ran and opened it up. "What the heck?! Why are you coming through my window?!"

"I was on the roof and this was the fastest way in, now move so i can get down," Emmie said as she jumped in through the opened window.

"Why were you- you know, i don't want to know. Let's just skip the part where i ask you a bunch of question and just get to why your here."

"I think we should put a hold on collecting kishin souls," Emmie said as she made her way to the living room. "It's become too dangerous; Venom could attack any day now."

"But we're doing so well! We have thirty-six souls already, why stop now? I'm sure we could handle whatever he throws at us."

"Not this, he's planning something big. Jada thinks so too, and she knows him. If we're not careful, we could get ourselves killed before we even make it to fifty souls," Emmie sat down in the love seat, relieving her tired legs. "Going out on jobs right now is like asking for Venom to string us up."

Jamie thought for a moment. While he agreed it was dangerous, having a death threat hanging over their heads and all, but taking a break would set them back considerably. But their safety was more important at the moment. "Alright, i concede that we won't take any missions for a while. But as soon as the school finds Venom's lair and gets some surveillance on him, we go back to work. I don't want us to fall too far behind."

"Great, now if you'll excuse me," Emmie got up and headed for the door. "I have to go buy a new phone cord thanks to a certain flying mammal."

"Cell phone cord or house phone cord?"

"House phone, he ate the wires."

"I'll come with you, i had to get some lunch anyway," Jamie nodded his towards the kitchen where his food sat smoking in the sink. He grabbed his now signature trench coat and followed Emmie out the door.

**Line Break!**

"You don't have to wear that all the time, i mean, you do have other jackets right?" Emmie poked a finger at Jamie's chest.

"Yes, but i like this one," Jamie pushed her hand away. They were walking in the down town area of Death City, dodging their fellow afternoon shoppers. They'd finished shopping and were on their way to Chupacabra's for lunch. That is, if there weren't any customers.

"Watch out!" Someone called to Emmie as something big and white fell out of the sky. Emmie jumped away ad activated her blades, ready for a fight.

"I'm sorry miss, the cords snapped," A man called down to her as his partners began to collect the fallen banner.

"Oh," Emmie said, embarrassed that she'd been so quick to become battle ready.

"That was close; you were almost killed by a wild banner!" Jamie joked as they watched the banner be put back in place. Once it was up, it read "**Happy ****anniversary**** D.C.!**" in cursive black lettering.

"anniversary?" Jamie questioned.

"Yeah, it's the celebration of the beginning of Shibusen. It's probably almost as important as Christmas around here. The majority of the meisters and weapons take a break during this time and come back to see their families and celebrate together," Emmie tugged on Jamie sleeve. "C'mon, this bag is heavy and I'm hungry so let's get going."

They set off walking again. "So, if this celebration is so important, why don't you look excited?"

"I get... stressed this time of year because i don't know if..." Emmie bit her lip. "Because i don't know if my parents will show up or not. They only come home a few times a year, but none of those times are for sure. This event is one of them." Emmie pointed at the signs and banners that were being hung around the city. "I can never tell if they'll show up or not. Most times though, it's the latter."

Jamie stopped walking.

"What? Aren't you coming?"

"Do you want them to show up?" Jamie asked out of the blue.

"W-Who? My parents? Well that's a complicated question and-"

"Do you or do you not?" Jamie put more force into his voice. He stared hard at Emmie, he knew that she and her parents weren't on the best of terms, but if she didn't want them to show up at all...

Emmie shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke the truth. "Yeah, i do want them to. I'm not exactly chummy with them, but fighting with them face to face is better than doing from a far."

Jamie smiled. "That's good to hear, better then you not wanting to see them at all."

"Pssh, like your one to talk," Emmie smacked him on the shoulder.

"Yes, i am a hypocrite; now let's get some food. I'm starving!"

**Line Break!**

"Em-chan~! You came to visit!" Blair grabbed Emmie into a powerful hug, smushing her into large chest. "It's be so long~!"

"Aunty Blair! Let me go!" Emmie struggled in the cat woman's grasp. She sucked in a breath of fresh air once she was released. "Can you get us some food? Jamie here wrecked his lunch again and is need of nourishment. Oh, and I'm hungry too."

"Sure! But you two will have to eat in the alley out back, we have some afternoon customers at the moment," Blair purred as she bounced away to get them some meals.

Emmie showed Jamie the way around back and they sat down on some empty crates. Blair came out a few minutes later with some sandwiches and drinks.

"Itadakimasu!" Emmie clapped her hands together and dug into her tuna sandwich. "Aunty Blair always chooses the fish, never anything else."

"Your right about that," Jamie laughed as he pulled a sardine out of his. "So now what? Do we just sit around until Venom is found, or do we do something?"

"If you mean something like getting jobs, then yeah, we are going to do something," Emmie pointed at a poster that was plastered to the wall beside them. "If students aren't going out on missions they can either train or work. Take your pick, we already train every day at school so I'd like to get a job. Some extra cash would be welcomed."

Jamie tapped his foot. "Sounds like a good idea, but what kind of jobs should we get?"

"Dunno, whatever's available i guess," Emmie licked her lips and picked up another sandwich to devour.

High above them, Jada and Scree were listening in through a transmitter she'd tucked into Emmie's pocket.

"Gah! These two have no clue how to start a romance!" Jada threw hands up in the air in frustration, making her broom rock dangerously. "Can't they see an opportunity when it smacks them in the face?!"

"Scree!" Scree fluttered about, trying to keep himself and the radio aloft.

"I know right? What am i supposed to do? Lock them up together? No that would never work, Emmie'd just cut a way out and escape," Jada thought for a few more minutes, but gave up. She'd admit defeat, but only for today. Tomorrow would be a different story.

_'I guess I'll just follow them around for the rest of the day...' _Jada thought as she watched her friends below.

**Line Break!**

Emmie returned the plate to Blair when they'd finished, then left with Jamie. It was getting on in the day and evening was drawing near.

"Not a bad way to spend a Sunday," Emmie mused aloud.

"Uh huh. So I'll see you tomorrow at school?"

"Yep, and you'll be seeing Jada as well; i convinced Kidd to let her take classes."

Jamie looked at his partner, a little dubious of her statement. "You convinced him, a shinigami, to a let Jada, a witch, into his school?"

"Weeeeell..." Emmie avoided his gaze.

**Flash back!**

"_Just let her take my classes, I'll keep an eye on her. I promise nothing will go wrong!"_

"_I don't know, we almost nothing about Jada. We haven't been able to find any record of her existence outside of her involvement with Venom. For all we know, she could still be working for him. It isn't safe," Kidd snapped at Emmie. She'd come barging in, once again without permission, and had interrupted an important phone call with a branch manager. "Besides, with a witch running around the school students will undoubtedly be put on edge. Can you guarantee that fights won't break out between her and the students?"_

"_Sure i can! I'll stay with her all the time and if anyone wants to fight her I'll just fight them first. My record is straight wins; there is no way that I'm going to let some hot-shot try anything with her. She's my friend and responsibility, I'll see to her safety and the school's."_

"_Yes, because you're fights have _never_ caused property damage before," Kidd said, rolling his eyes. "Look, my decision is final, she isn't joining the school."_

"_Oh yeah? Well, what __if said that i, _hypothetically _of course, might end up in a fight tomorrow," Emmie walked up to Kidd and looked at him with a sly smile. "And in that fight i would demolish the entire front entrance. The candles, spikes, and skulls; the whole works."_

"_You wouldn't...!" Kidd's eyes grew wide._

"_This all just hypothetical, remember? No one ever said it would actually happen... but it could," Emmie grinned as Kidd began to sweat. "But just to make sure this _didn't_ happen, you could take measures to make sure __me and my friend, the witch, would stay happy in the near future. How does that sound? Do we have a deal?"_

**Flash back end!**

"He was happy to let Jada join up, no complaints at all!" Emmie grinned widely.

"You threatened him, didn't you?"

"Only a little!"

"How do you get away with this stuff? I mean, i know your parents are close with him and all, but still..." Jamie scratched the back of his neck. "You have a lot of pull for a student."

"It's like how you are with your parents; they're famous so you get special treatment at high class restaurants. Me? I get pull around the school because my parents are one of the best meister and weapon teams they got," Emmie looked up at the sky and thought of her parents, wondering where they were. "I've been told all my life that my parents are amazing. How they're so great and powerful and cool and... Well you get the point. Basically, i get pull because my 'rents are celebrities here."

"Huh, never thought about it like that..." Jamie said thoughtfully. "I guess that makes sense."

"Yeah..." Emmie chewed her lip. While she appreciated some of the attention that she got, (it helped her get some exclusive access to certain files in the library), it was really just an annoyance. A lot of the staff at the school expected her to be just like her parents. Or at least her mother. They wanted her to be an A+ student, a role model for the NOT class, everything she wasn't. No, instead she was a trouble maker who got into fights daily. It was a real pain.

Emmie shook away the thoughts circling her and brought herself back to the present. "Anyway, let's just go home. But first..." She reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out a certain object. She spoke loudly into it. "You can come down and join us now Jada, we're done for the day and I'd like a ride home."

"HUH?! When'd she figure it out?" Jada frowned down at her friends and stuck out her tongue. "Stupid Emmie, she's no fun once she finds me out."

Down below Jamie looked at the tiny bat shaped piece of metal in Emmie's hand. "And that thing is..?"

"Jada's little toy, she stuck it into my jacket when she handed it to me," Emmie tucked it back into her pocket. She'd return it later. "She's been spying on us the whole time."

Jamie sweat dropped. "Should we be worried about this?"

"Naw, it's just her way of enjoying herself," Emmie pointed Jada out as she descended from the sky. She was about one hundred feet up when a gun blast rang out.

Then everything went to hell in a hand-basket.

**Line Break!**

Jada never saw it coming. There was blinding pain in her stomach and then she was falling. Time seemed to slow as she fell from the sky, she couldn't seem to move properly or hear very well. In fact, she couldn't hear anything outside the blood pounding in her ears. She saw Scree out of the corner of her eye; he was trying to pull her up, slow her decent.

_'Silly bat, you may be big, but you can't keep me aloft,'_ Jada thought warmly as she smiled at her frantic pet. In her last few minutes of consciousness she felt someone catch her. Then there was a crack and they landed.

Then her vision faded, and with it her sense of reality.

**Line Break!**

"JADA!" Emmie screamed as she saw her friend plummeting from the sky. She rushed into action, running towards the building nearest to her. She jumped with every bit of power she had and bounded from window ledge to window ledge; making her way to the top. She had mere seconds before her best friend went splat! on the ground below. She reached to roof and kept going, climbing the water tank nearby and jumping and high as she could into the air; right into Jada's way.

She wrapped herself around Jada and put her own body facing the ground, a desperate attempt to save Jada's life. She barely had time to acknowledge the fact that Jamie had high jacked a nearby fruit cart was positioning that cart beneath them. Emmie braced for impact and hoped to death that this wouldn't be the moment she died.

They landed, smashing into the stacked boxes of blue berries, and sent them flying everywhere. Emmie saw blots in her vision and she tried to fight the urge scream in pain as the shock waves ran up and down her spinal cord. Jamie pulled Jada out of her grasp and laid her down carefully. Blood was pulsing from the wound in her abdomen, and her breathing was fast and shallow. Scree was flying about wildly, unsure of what to do.

People were gathering around them. Somewhere calling nine-one-one, but most were just staring in shock.

"GET A DOCTOR! SOMEONE, PLEASE!" Jamie shouted. Jada wasn't reacting to his voice at all and Emmie could have broken her spine. Finally, some people snapped out of it and began to help him. The store keeper who'd owned the smashed cart, a young woman of twenty-five, gave him first aid supplies and help him to apply direct pressure to Jada's stomach. While she was doing that, Jamie checked Emmie over.

"Emmie?! Can you hear me? Does anything feel broken?!" Jamie lightly shook her shoulders. "Emmie!"

Suddenly she coughed and sat up, breathing hard. She struggled onto her feet, her long hair dangled in front of her face. She spoke in a hoarse voice. "Who... did that...!?"

"Sit down, you could have broken you're-!"

"I SAID WHO DID THAT?! WHO SHOT JADA?!" Emmie snarled.

"I did!" A voice yelled from the crowd. The people around the owner of the voice scattered away from him, revealing an older man holding a hunting rifle in his hands. He had once been a brunette, but had greyed with age. He was stocky and wrinkled. "I shot the damn witch; now get away from her so i can finish the job!"

Emmie tackled him in an instant. Slamming him to the ground and pinning him with her blades.

"Emmie! No!" Jamie tried to pull his partner off the old man, but she just shoved him away.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Emmie pressed her blades against his neck, creating a shallow cut across the skin. "How could you shoot her?! She has no magic right now!"

"That's precisely why i did it! A witch without magic is an easy target!" The old man ignored the blades and grabbed Emmie by her hair. "You could never understand just what it's like to see a witch in action! In my day, we wouldn't let such a dangerous girl run around our city! You new students are all softies, no real back bone to you. That's why i had to kill her myself! Before she killed us all!"

Emmie could barely contain her anger. She wrenched the gun from the old man's hands and held it at his forehead. She put her finger on the trigger and unlocked the safety. "You bastard! Shooting her right in front of me, it's like you're asking for me to kill you!"

"EMMIE!" Jamie pulled the gun from her hands and held it away. "You can't kill him!"

"Why shouldn't I!?"

"Because he's not worth it!" Jamie was just as mad as Emmie was, but he could still grasp some common sense. "We need to get Jada to a hospital right away, if we even have a chance at saving her we need to go NOW!"

Emmie whipped her head around and saw Jamie was right; Jada was bleeding heavily and needed immediate medical attention. She spat on the old man's face and got up. "I'll be coming for you, as soon as my friend is safe. And you better hope that she survives because if she doesn't... you'll be the next one to die."

She picked up Jada and started running, Jamie was right behind them as well. She ran faster than ever before, the world blurred around her as she focused only on getting to the hospital. They made it in five minutes, a record time for getting across town. Jada was rushed to the emergency room and Emmie was given a thorough check up, X-rays to check her spine and stiches for the deeper lacerations on her back.

She didn't resist even once, not even when they forced her to stay overnight for observation. All she could think about was Jada and whether or not she would make it through the night.

**Well... that e****scalated quickly.**

**I'm not really sure where this is going, but it's definitely interesting.**

**Yeah, sorry about the 'not-publishing-anything-for-weeks-on-end' thing. I've been out of it and kinda off lately.**

**And there will be another long break because I'm g****oing to B.C. Then ****Winnipeg****for a week****. (I'm not going to be back until just before the school year starts up again. Sorry!)**

**Maka and Soul could be showing up soon! ('bout time!) ****And**** I'm also thinking Spirit may make an appearance at some point, but i don't**** know. (****He's**** kinda hard to deal with so i may just leave him out for a little while yet.)**

**Please**** bear with me! I will be back soon! (****Really**** sorry!)**


	27. Chapter 26

**Hey-o! I'm back in black! (That's gernerally the colour of clothing that i wear)**

**sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger last time, i didn't have time to write another chapter before i left for my road trip. But now I'm here to answer the question on everyone's mind, DID JADA SURVIVE?!**

**Let's find out!**

"_Jada, where are you?" Jada's mother called for her, a tall and thin pink haired woman. (No, she is not Chrona) They were on a picnic and the weather was perfect. They were currently playing hide-and-seek._

_Five year-old Jada giggled as she hid inside a large bush. There was no way they'd find her. Then the branches were pulled away and her father retrieved her from her hidey-hole._

"_Gotcha!" He said with a hearty laugh. Jada shrieked as he lifted her high and onto his shoulders. He was an average height man with a well-muscled physic from his job as a lumber man. His hair was light brown._

"_There you are, you little sneak," Jada's mother said as she pulled Jada down onto the ground. Jada smiled happily as they all joined hands and walked back to the picnic table._

_Suddenly, the peaceful atmosphere was disrupted by the screaming of many people. Jada turned around, now fifteen, and saw the town was on fire. There were many people lying on the ground, injured or pinned under debris._

"_Mom! Dad!" Jada screamed, searching for them in the smoking chaos. "Where are you?!"_

_A sharp pain exploded in her stomach, a rock that was thrown by a young man._

"_WITCH!" He yelled at her as he threw more rocks at her. Other people began to join in, throwing whatever they could pick up._

"_MURDERER!"_

"_FREAK!"_

_Jada backed up until she was pressed against a wall. She held up her arms and blocked the best she could._

"_Stop! Please! I didn't do anything!" She cried in vain. No one heeded her pleas, and continued. Jada spotted her parents in the crowd and called out to them._

_They didn't look at her, wouldn't look at her._

_Even though crowd was thunderously noisy, Jada could hear the quiet words that her mother spoke._

"_Demon child. To think i would give birth to a witch, it makes me sick."_

"_No...!" Jada wept. She felt something scaly wrap itself around her neck. Venom's voice hissed from the snake's mouth._

"_Good job Jada, you destroyed your home town; jussst asss i ordered. Now you can never come back here," The snake tightened its hold and squeezed her neck. "Now you are _mine!"

_Jada opened her mouth to scream, but couldn't get even a squeak out. The snake tightened and tightened and tightened, until Jada felt it take her last breath away. As her vision narrowed, she caught sight of her parents. Their gaze was hate filled and it left a wound on Jada's heart that would never heal._

**Line Break!**

Jada regained consciousness at that moment, pulling herself from the dream of her jumbled memories.

_'Haven't had that one in a while...' _Jada thought sleepily. She turned over to check what time it was on her digital clock. But instead she saw a green curtain that was draped around her bed. No, not her bed; a hospital bed she was laying. She sat up quickly in panic, but regretted it. Her side felt like it someone had stabbed three times from the and back. A nurse came in through the curtain at that moment.

"Ah, you're awake. Good to see you're recovering," She said with a smile. She sat down in a plastic chair beside the bed. "So how are you feeling? I was worried about you; you took some real damage from your fight."

"Fight...? i don't remember any..." Then it hit her. She'd been shot. And then... she'd fallen off her broom, and someone had caught. Who was that? She tried to get out of bed. "How long was i out for? Someone caught me, who was that? Did to people come with me? Were they injured? Do know where they-"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down and sit down miss, you aren't fit to move around right now," The nurse helped Jada ease back into bed. "I'm just a nurse, i don't know a much besides that you were shot. I'll ask around, but i can't promise anything. And don't try to get out of bed anymore; you'll open your stitches if you exert yourself.""

"Can you at least bring me a phone? I need to call someone."

"Sure, I'll get a portable from the staff room. Who do you need to call, your mom and dad?"

Jada shook her head. "No, i don't have parents. I need to call my friend."

The nurse looked away nervously. "O-oh, I'm sorry. I'll get the phone right away."

"Its fine, no need to apologize," Jada said, waving away the woman's worry. "By the way, you never answered my question. How long was i asleep?"

"Two days."

**Line Break!**

"Sixty-two, sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-five," Emmie pushed herself up and down. "Sixty-six, sixty-seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine, SEVENTY." She let herself flop onto the linoleum of her hospital room. Usually she could do a lot more, but the impact from catching Jada had really done a number on her back. She'd pulled a ton of muscles, almost snapped her shoulder tendons, and had a plethora of lacerations. The wood from the cart had splintered under their weight and many of those stray pieces had imbedded themselves in her back.

It hadn't been a pretty sight. Course, she hadn't actually felt the injuries until after the shock had worn off. She didn't even notice she was hurt until Jamie had started freaking out, (along with the doctors). Her long hair had hidden it for the most part, but Jamie had noticed that the ends were turning red.

She would have been home by now, but she'd been ambushed by some assholes yesterday who'd heard she'd been injured. Those who were out to get her were always looking for a moment of weakness. She'd won of course, but the fight had opened up every single setstitches; not to mention made her pulled muscles hurt even more.And so she had to stay another night.

Emmie was bored out of her mind, she could practice her any of her instruments or listen to music, Jada hadn't woken up yet, and the hospital food sucked.

A knock on the door forced Emmie to hurry back into her bed; if they caught her exercising again she'd be in big trouble.

"Esmeralda? Are you awake?" The nurse, who'd been looking after her, a young man in his late twenties, poked his head in. "I just got word that your friend has woken up and is asking for you."

"Oh thank death," Emmie let out a sigh of relief. It hadn't looked very good for Jada on the first night. The surgery was long and difficult because the bullet had gone straight through her small intestine and had lodged itself in her appendix. The surgeons had removed her appendix completely because it had started to leak toxins into Jada's body.

In the end, they'd been successful in saving her life. She was very lucky, if Emmie hadn't caught Jada's fall, she would have been killed on impact. And Emmie was lucky Jamie had thought to shove a fruit cart in their way or Emmie would have broken her neck. There was a whole lot of luck involved with their survival.

"Am I allowed to go see her?" Emmie said as she got back out of bed.

"Yes, just follow me."

Jada, it turned out, was only a few hall ways away. Her room was a group room, but Jada was the only one occupying it. She was out of bed and sitting by the window in a wheel chair.

Emmie knocked on door frame. "Yo Jada, how're you feeling?"

Jada looked up from staring into space and smiled. "Hey Emmie, how come you're in the hospital?"

"Well, i figured the hospital garb would be a dead giveaway, but I'll explain anyway. When you were..." Emmie clenched her fists and gritted her sharp teeth. "_Shot..._ i caught you in mid-air and broke your fall. We both survived thanks to Jamie catching us with a fruit cart. We're both damn lucky."

"_You're_ the one who caught me?!" Jada gasped. "OH MY GOD, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," Emmie said with a wave of her hand. She walked over to her friend and mussed her pink hair. "No need to worry about me, I'm fit as a fiddle."

Jada responded by poking Emmie on her back. This made Emmie let out a squeak and almost fall over.

"Watch the stitches!"

"I knew it," Jada sighed and shook her head. "You don't need to act tough around me, and i thought we were closer than that."

"It's less of an act so much as how i make myself feel better," Emmie said as she pulled an office chair from beside a nearby bad and sat backwards on it, resting her chin on the back. "S'like wearing your fav shirt or something; just feels better. Speaking of feeling better, how's your stomach?"

"Feels like, what was that expression? Like i got shot," Jada said with a grin. Emmie stuck her tongue out at her.

"Well that is to be expected. That is what happened."

"Who shot me anyway?"

Emmie frowned. "Sid came to see me yesterday and he told me about the guy who did this to you. His name was Carol Simon. He was an ex-meister who retired a while ago. Sid said that when Carol was younger a witch killed his entire family, plus his first weapon partner. That's why he shot you, even though you haven't done anything. I know he was old an' probably kinda senile, but... it doesn't give him an excuse. The academy arrested him after we took you here. We won't be seeing him ever again."

Jada's eyes got sad. "They didn't... i mean... he was only doing what he thought was right. I don't hold any grudge against him, i am a witch after all; it's only natural that he'd hate me."

"That's bull-shit and you know it!" Emmie raged. "Like hell it's natural for him to hate you, he was just some old ass-hole who lost himself to revenge. Don't think for a second it's okay!" Emmie stood up and grabbed Jada's shoulders. "You are _never_ allowed to think like that again; otherwise I'll slap you until you come to your senses! Do you hear me?!"

Jada nodded shakily, surprised by her friend's outburst.

Emmie sighed wearily and released Jada. "Looks like we're a lot more alike than i thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... even though our lives have totally different, the result is kinda the same. We're both broken in some way."

_'Broken huh? That about sums it up,'_ Jada thought. "I get that description when it comes to me, but you? How are you broken?"

"Uh, how do i explain this?" Emmie closed her eyes and struck a thinker's pose. "Guess i should start at the beginning. It started with a fight when i was little..."

**Line Break!**

Jada was starting to tear up at the end of Emmie's story.

"Stop blubbering, I'm not aren't i?" Emmie scolded her teary friend.

"I-I caaaaaaan't! It's soooooooooo sad! How do you sleep at night?!" Jada wailed. "It's just like the tragic back ground of a main character in one of my manga's!" Jada grabbed Emmie's hands and clasped them in her's. "I promise I'll help you get through this!"

"I told you I'm fine. But the thought is appreciated," Emmie grinned. "Now in exchange for me telling you my back story, tell me yours."

"I don't think... well i guess. It is common courtesy that after you hear a tragic story you give your tragic story in return."

The two spent the rest of the morning trading stories about miserable moments in their lives. While it dredged up some not-so-nice memories, it helped lightened their heavy hearts. It's like the saying goes, misery loves company. By the time lunch rolled around, they'd covered their whole lives.

"Oh my holy hell, your life _sucked_. If i was as sappy as you I'd be bawling my eyes out now," Emmie said with a sad look.

Jada wiped away some of the many tears she'd been crying. "Yeah, you would be. Thanks for listening to me."

"Same to you, feels good to get this off my chest. I never knew that actually talking about the shit that's happened to me would make it easier to deal with. Too bad I've been blowing Tsubaki and the school counselors off all these years," Emmie stretched, (carefully), and got up. How about we go get some food? The jello here is decent."

"Sure!" Jada said, drying the last of her tears. Emmie grasped the handles of the wheel chair and began pushing Jada.

"Hey, you said your family disowned you right?"

"Well, they didn't actually say it, but i kinda assumed... Anyway, they basically did. What about it?"

"I was just thinking that maybe..." Emmie stopped pushing the wheel chair. "That you might want to be a part of my... family?" She finished in a low voice.

"Emmie," Jada twisted her head to look at her albino friend. "I don't know what to say. Do really mean that?"

"Well yeah, why else would i say it? Just please say yes or no, this stuff is hard for me to say," Emmie squirmed as Jada took her time to answer.

"I'd be honored to be a part of your dysfunctional family," Jada reached around and pulled Emmie in front of her. "You're my best friend, there's no way I'd say no. Now gimme me a hug sister!"

Emmie bent down and hugged her new sister. "Watch the stitches!" She winced when Jada's hug got too tight.

"Whoops, sorry!" Jada removed her hands from Emmie's back and switched to her neck. "So are your parents going to be okay with this?"

"Who cares? If they don't like it, tough. You are now a part my odd family and i am never letting you leave."

"Thanks Emmie," Jada started crying again. And somewhere inside her heart, something snapped back into place and the two of them got started on healing each other.

**Line Break!**

"Mushy food to go with a mushy day," Emmie said as she ate her third cup of green Jello. She raised her cup. "Here's to being incredibly shameless and finally dealing with some of our problems!"

"Right!" Jada slammed her Jello cup against Emmie's. They'd been there for about half an hour now and starting to get a little silly with their food. As Emmie _drank_ the last of her Jello cup, Jada got thoughtful. "How come Jamie's not here? I was sure he'd have shown up by now and started telling you get back in bed and rest."

"He said something yesterday about having a talk with Mr. Simon. He was pretty steamed."

"He should be, one of his friends and his girlfriend was attacked after all,"

Emmie choked on her Jello.

"Wh-what the heck?! GIRLFRIEND?! Where the hell'd that come from?!" Emmie shouted while coughing.

"Did i say girlfriend? Sorry just a slip of the tongue~," Jada chuckled as Emmie blushed deep red.

"You're insane. Completely insane. Even your slip ups are insane," Emmie glowered at Jada.

"Say what you will," Jada stuck her tongue out. "But you know, it _could_ happen. You two have the chemistry after all."

"This conversation is over," Emmie stood up and walked away, back towards her room.

"Oh come on! You can't deny it~!" Jada wheeled herself after Emmie.

"I'll deny it all i want! Never in a million years would i think about dating that scrawny weakling!"

"Ooh, ouch. Poor Jamie, good thing he's not here to hear that," Jada sweat dropped.

"Too late," Jamie said, coming up from behind her. He'd come to check how the girls were recovering and he'd spotted them when he was making his way around the cafeteria floor. As he was heading over to talk to them, he heard only the last part of their conversation.

"Ack! You didn't hear all that, did you?"

Jamie nodded. He was blushing and feeling rather hurt that Emmie had rejected the idea of dating him so violently. Not to mention she'd called him scrawny. And a weakling.

"Cheer up Jamie, she'll come around," Jada patted her friend on the back.

"Can we never speak of this again? Ever?" Jamie hung his head.

Jada removed her hand slowly. _'Whoops, looks like i pushed them apart instead of closer. I'll have to fix this later.'_

"Why don't we just sit down and have some Jello? That sound good?" Jada said, trying to distract from the issue.

"Sure, whatever," Jamie mumbled.

They sat together in silence for another half an hour. Jamie put his head down and wouldn't speak. Jada ended up eating both of their Jello's. She sighed as Jamie mumbled something about not being scrawny. _'Why can't i get this right? I know they'll thank me, if could just get them to admit they like each other. Maybe at the anniversary celebration...?'_

**Line Break!**

"No, No, No, NO!" Emmie muttered as she paced around her room. Why would Jada suddenly say something like that? _'Jamie's my partner, nothing more. Besides, I'm not looking to date anyone right now. Not that anyone would date _me._ Augh! Stop thinking!'_

Emmie squatted down against the wall. She didn't enjoy the thoughts of falling in love, they were painful. Rejection was a big part of her life, adding rejection of affections wouldn't help.

"Though..." She muttered. "Jamie is pretty trust worthy. Maybe... he might even like me?"

Realizing what she'd just said, Emmie slapped herself and started exercising again. Anything to get romantic thoughts out of her head.

**Line Break!**

While things were starting to look up for Emmie and the others, a certain snake was finally ready and coiled to strike.

Venom traced his finger in a circle on the crystal globe he was peering through. In it he viewed shifting images of Death City. "Are you two ready? I have been planning thisss for a very long time. You had better not ssscrew it up."

"We are, everything is in place," A tall woman replied. Her hair was long and black, and her eyes were an unsettling red. She sauntered over to Venom, her red slant skirt rustling, and looked at the globe. "This is a very bold move Venom, attacking Death City when the majority of its meisters are there. Even i wouldn't dare."

"Yeah, it's, like, totally cray-cray!" Another girl joined in. Her appearance was almost pure silver, her knee high dress, her hair, and her wide eyes. She giggled. "I don't get how this will work, but i get to have fun and that's all i care about!"

"Sssilence, Echidna, Diana. Thisss _will_ work, and if it doesssn't it will be your fault!" Venom snapped. "I have planned thisss down to the finessst of pointsss. Every counter measssure they attempt will back fire on them." Venom smirked gleefully. "Their downfall will be of their own doing."

"When do we move?" Echidna, the black haired one, asked.

"In two daysss during the height of their celebration. Now leave me," Venom waved his hand and the two witches vanished. He pulled out a small crystal charm from his pocket and spoke a password. The crystal lit up at his words and beams of light shot out and projected a video on the rock wall nearby. A scene played out, himself as a young boy practicing magic under the guidance of his teacher. She smiled slightly as he killed a raging bull in one shot, his magic pulling the blood right out of the bull. This video was old, taken in the first year Venom had met her. It was also the year she'd died.

But this video, this precious video, was what had kept him going. And now his revenge was so close at hand he could almost taste it.

Only two more days...

**Well now that that's out of the way, i have something to tell you guys. I got a really negative PM the other day from someone. I won't say who, but they said some really hurtful things about my fanfiction. This fanfiction is my pride and joy and i don't enjoy it when people hate on it. Also, they said i should just stop with the whole "Q and A corner" thing. So since it was rejected so badly i won't be doing that.**

**Sorry to the other readers who sent in their questions.**


	28. Chapter 27

**'Lo again! Hope you people aren't bored with this story, (you guys haven't commented for a very long time). I have been planning this part for months, waiting till the story reached this point. Now the tie is nigh, time for the festivities to begin!**

_**Disclaimer: i own nothing!**_

"You sure you can do this Jada?" Emmie asked, worried that Jada was exerting herself.

"It's fine, my magic is doing all the work," Jada as she air-lifted them to school. She'd already missed her first few days of school and she wasn't going to miss this one. They floated down gently towards Jamie, who was waiting at the top of the stairs with a wheel chair.

"Good morning Jada, nice see you're feeling better," Jamie said politely as he helped her sit down.

"Thanks for hiking this thing up here, i really appreciate it," Jada said, wheeling herself to the doors. "I'm still unsteady in my feet so this is a big help."

"No prob."

As the trio entered the school, they heard a wave of murmurs start up. People everywhere were staring at Jada as she wheeled herself through the hallways.

Jada tipped her bowler hat upwards nervously. "Not exactly a warm welcome, huh?"

"Ignore them," Emmie said. She then moved up beside Jada, keeping pace with the wheel chair. Jamie copied her and they both kept guard on each side. It didn't really matter whether the Grim reaper himself had said that it was okay for Jada to attend, there was still going to be resistance from the students.

After taking the scenic route to their class, (stairs can be a real pain), they arrived just as Tsubaki was closing the door.

"Oh, good," Tsubaki said with a relieved smile. "I didn't think you were coming."

"Sorry were late Tsubaki, we had to take the elevator," Jamie explained as they entered the classroom.

The class was buzzing excitedly at the sight of Jada. A real witch had joined their class! All of their friends peered down curiously, they'd heard Emmie was living with a witch, but had yet to meet Jada.

"Everyone, this is Jada," Tsubaki announced. "She was supposed to have her first day on Monday, but due to injuries she was delayed. I hope you will all give her a warm Shibusen welcome!"

Though a few kids made some effort to say hello, most of the class was silent; distrustful of their new classmate.

"Jada, you can sit in the first row," Tsubaki helped guide Jada's wheel chair into place. When she was settled, they began class.

The closer friends of Jamie and Emmie were pretty welcoming, but barely anyone in class talked to Jada.

Despite that, the morning was calm, but he afternoon...

That's when things went wrong.

**Line Break!**

Jada hummed happily as she rolled through the halls of her new school. When was the last time she was in school? She couldn't even remember. Jamie, Emmie, and the others were off in sparring practice and since Jada was in no shape to fight, (she wasn't allowed anyway), and she'd decided to take a look around.

Stairs were a bit of a problem, but she'd made a solution. Levitating her wheelchair was no different from her broom; it was just a bit un-wieldy. Touring the school, she first visited her classroom again. Class Crescent Moon, a only for the EAT students. Large and spacious, plenty of room for her chair.

Next was the cafeteria, the enormous dining hall was fairly empty; only a few students here and there. She bought herself a few chocolate-chip cookies before moving on. She'd wanted to explore the lower levels of the school, but she'd been told not to wander to far.

So she headed outside to enjoy the view. Sitting at the balcony railing on the second floor was a perfect place for cookie munching.

_'I miss my Scree though,' _Jada thought, regretful that she'd had to leave her precious bat at home for the day. She bit into another cookie thoughtfully. _'Maybe i persuade Tsubaki-sensei to let me bring him tomorrow...'_

"Hey witch! Don't you know only students are allowed here?"

Jada turned her head and saw a small group kids, five boys and three girls. They didn't look friendly. Jada swallowed and spoke. "I'm a student actually, i joined today."

"Liar, witches aren't allowed to attend D.W.M.A. everyone knows that. Now get out of here," The same boy who'd spoke the first time marched up to her and smacked the cookies out of her hand and sent the flying over the railing. Jada lunged for them, but they were long gone.

"Hey! I was eating those!"

"Yeah, well go get them then. Then get off our property," Another boy joined in. The rest of the group followed, shouting insults.

"I don't need to go anywhere," Jada said stubbornly. "And like I'd let a snot nosed bunch of kids chase me off. Get a life."

This made the ring leader very angry. He smacked Jada across the face and sent her tumbling out of her wheelchair. She struggled to stand up.

"What the hell?! I wasn't doing anything, just leave me alone!"

"As a meister, it is my duty to exterminate threats to humanity and this school. You are a threat," He said menacingly. He snapped his fingers and the second boy to speak transformed. Landing in the first boy's hand, the light surrounding his weapon partner scattered to reveal a gold khopesh sword. Swinging it in Jada's direction he spoke. "Either get out now, or dual us. All of us."

The other weapons transformed and their meisters clutched them, ready to fight. Along with the khopesh sword, there was a broad sword, a mace, and a spiked metal glove. Jada was out powered and very badly out numbered.

She forced herself to stand strong, it was her first day and she wasn't going to let these kids goad her into ruining the chance Emmie had given her.

"I won't fight with you," Jada walked slowly back to her wheelchair and sat down. She wheeled herself back a bit, out of attacking range from the closest meister. "But that doesn't mean I'm leaving." She narrowed her eyes. Just because her powers were suppressed didn't mean she couldn't put up resistance. "You kids don't know who you're messing with. I'm witch. I doubt any of you have ever even scene one, let alone fought one. You say I'm a threat to the school? Well that's wrong. I have no reason to destroy the school where my friends attend. But you people on the other hand... what reason do i have to stop?"

Pink energy began to seep out of her choker, twisting in the air; obviously magic. The students didn't look so sure of themselves anymore, they hadn't expected her to put up a fight. With the rules that she was bound to, they hadn't thought she would refuse _or_ threaten them.

The lone female meister spoke up, holding her broad sword tightly. "Guys, maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Shut up Cindy! She can't do anything, her power was sealed," The leader yelled at her.

"It's true they were sealed," Jada said with a smile. She made her wheelchair float a little to add effect. "But they weren't fully suppressed. Now and again, some happens to slip out. More than enough for me to take care of you."

The girl paled and began shaking. "I-I didn't sign up for this!" She bolted for the exit, leaving the other three meisters.

The leader gritted his teeth in frustration. He should have known Cindy would bail. He turned and barked orders at the other two boys. "Don't let her intimidate you! She's just bluffing! Colson, Jack, stop being wimps and attack already!"

Colson nodded the braver one. He charged at Jada, his mace whipping around in a circle. He never saw Jada's attack coming. Giant stone arms reached out from Jada's backpack and swatted the boy away. Climbing out of the bag, a creature that in no way could fit inside revealed itself. A gargoyle about seven feet tall with extra-long arms roared at the three meisters. Jada was breathing heavily, it had taken all of her will power to force enough magic through the seal to awaken the statue in her bag.

The leader, whose name was Bazi, skittered backwards as the gargoyle lunged at him, barely missing.

"I thought you weren't allowed to use your magic!" He yelled at Jada.

"Self defense wasn't excluded in the contract," Jada said with a shrug. "You threatened me, i got defensive. It's a natural reaction. Now get out of my sight before i get really scary."

The stone monster bellowed at the students to make Jada's point. They scattered away, circling her carefully.

"Don't think we're letting you off the hook witch!" Bazi spat the last part. The venom in his voice was strong enough that even his friends flinched. He charged suddenly, and attacked with his khopesh. The gargoyle blocked the attack, keeping it from reaching Jada. Its arm cracked and lost a few bit of stone flesh, but was relatively unhurt.

Jada was feeling faint now; even keeping herself in the air was draining. Not to mention keeping the gargoyle from killing the meister. She'd yet to give it any other mode than "kill", so she had to control it herself.

_'God damn it, why didn't i just stay and watch Emmie and Jamie spar?' _Jada thought. She was alone, cornered, and there wasn't any hope of someone saving her. _'I don't feel so good...'_

Jada slowly let herself down to the ground; this helped a little with the dizziness of using so much force to control her magic, but not much. She wasn't going to last much longer. The three meisters were taking turns at attacking the gargoyle and were doing some good damage. They'd made some good progress with the arms and were working on severing the neck. The mace was doing the worst damage, making huge cracks in the stone.

_'My first day and I'm already in trouble, wouldn't Emmie be proud,'_ Jada chuckled half-heartedly, her eyes growing heavy. She could even hear Emmie, scolding her for being so stupid. Wait. Jada's eyes flew open and she saw Emmie and Jamie holding off the three meisters.

"Jada, you god damn BAKA!" Emmie cursed and kicked Bazi in the knee. "Why the hell'd you go wandering off?! And when I come looking for you, i find you in a death match with a bunch of violence drunk fools!"

"Like you can talk Emmie," Jamie said as he boxed the ears of the kid with the metal glove, Jack. "You're in fights almost every day."

"Shut up!" Emmie yelled, taking out her anger on Colson.

Shortly later, all three of the meisters and their weapons were kneeling on the ground in front of a very pissed off albino.

"I get pulled out of class and i missed my sparring practice, all because you three IDIOTS decided it might be fun to ATTACK JADA!" Emmie raged, even louder than the gargoyle had been. She grabbed a bunch of Bazi's hair and pulled on it. "And you! What the fuck?! What is your god damn problem?! Attacking a fellow student, a crippled one too! Are you some kind of sick bastard?! HUH?!"

"I think that's enough Emmie," Jamie said as he grabbed Emmie and pulled her away from the deafened boy. "I'm sure that they're very sorry. Now we'll just take them to Kidd and then this can be all over."

"Fucking bitch, go mind your own business you cow!"

Jamie turned back and looked at Bazi. "Come again?"

"I said that your partner there is a bitchy cow and she should mind her own business!" Bazi shouted.

Jamie moved almost to quickly for even Emmie to see. Before Bazi even realized it, Jamie's hand was clutching his ear and pulling _really _hard. He smiled as he pulled. "I'm sorry, but i must have miss heard you. I thought you just said something very vulgar and insulting about my partner. But of course you didn't," He pulled even harder. "_Right?_"

"N-no sir," Bazi yelped.

"Emmie, is there something wrong with Jamie?" Jada asked nervously.

"No, this is just his Anti-Jamie mode," Emmie's anger had mostly subsided because she knew Jamie, or Anti-Jamie, would definitely convince the six students they'd been wrong.

"Jada, do you have any rope in that bag of yours?" Jamie asked suddenly.

"Uh, i do actually," Jada stuck her hand into the seemingly endless bag and pulled out a large length of rope, about thirty feet long. "I have another six of these too, why do you ask?"

"I have a plan to put that rope to good use," Is all Jamie said.

**Line Break!**

"We said we were sorry!" Bazi yelled down at them. Jamie had indeed put the rope to good use. All three of the meisters and their weapons were now hanging from the giant red spikes of the school's entrance.

"Was this really necessary?" Jada asked, looking up at the struggling students.

"Maybe not, but they deserved it."

Emmie sighed. "Well, that was a huge waste of time. No more going off on your own okay Jada? That was too much effort."

"Don't worry, I've learned my lesson. Until people are friendlier to me, i don't think I'll be trying this again anytime soon," Jada said with conviction. The three of them stood in silence for a while.

"So who's going to let them down?" Emmie asked eventually.

"Someone will," Jamie replied. "Let's go back to class for now, they'll figure out a way down at some point."

**Line Break!**

"A fight on your first day? Wow, just like Emmie," Madison said. They were all leaving school now, having finished all of their required classes.

"I wasn't the one who started it though, they're the ones who threatened me," Jada added quickly. She didn't want them thinking she'd gone looking for trouble.

Emmie yawned, tired from being awake all night and working in school. "So where to? I wanna get home soon, i need a nap."

Madison smiled. "Well, you will be allowed to go home, but only after we finish _shopping!_"

Emmie and everyone else stared, (except Jada, who was in on this), in disbelief. Emmie squinted at Madison. "Why?"

"He~llo! Tomorrow night is the anniversary of D.W.M.A.! We need dresses! Not to mention me and Jada have to help you, otherwise i know you'll show up in some second hand dress and combat boots!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Emmie grumbled. That had been exactly what she'd been planning.

"It's Jamie's turn!" D.K. suddenly cried. They all looked at him funny. "I mean, it's Jamie's turn to shovel out the cash; I'm out!" He summoned Beelzebub in a split second and took off before anyone could disagree.

"Didn't i say no volunteering?!" Jamie yelled after him. He sighed and hung his head. "I'll make a withdrawal."

Madison and Jada squealed happily, and Serena and Emmie sighed. This was going to be a very long afternoon indeed.

After Madison had extorted enough money from Jamie, she kicked him to the curb and told him to go buy a tuxedo for himself. She also said to not come back until they called him; he wasn't allowed to see what dresses they bought.

"This one is fine, now for death's sake can we leave?!" Emmie growled as she was forced to pranced around in yet another dress that made her feel ridiculous. Of course it wasn't fine actually, but she was so fed up she didn't care anymore. "I don't wear dresses to begin with! Can't i just wear some jeans and a T-shirt?"

"NO!" Jada said, shoving a new dress into Emmie's hands. "Now go change, let's see this one."

Emmie looked to Serena for help, but the taller girl only shrugged helplessly. She'd already picked her's out, (or rather Madison and Jada had picked it for her), and she couldn't really help Emmie; the best way out of this was to just ride the wave and hope it ended soon.

Emmie sighed and turned back to the change rooms and started to walk away with the stupid dress when Madison suddenly came barreling out from the back of the store. "I found it! I found the perfect one!"

"Really?!" Jada wheeled herself over and peered at the dress. She looked at Madison and nodded curtly. She snapped her fingers at Emmie. "Alright, forget the one you have in your hands Emmie; this is the dress."

Emmie rolled her eyes, not really believing her, but she took the dress anyway. Minutes later, she was showing it off to her friends and making them ooh and ah. She had to admit, it looked pretty damn good on her; even if she still didn't the fact she'd have to wear for a whole night.

_'Oh who am i kidding? I love it,'_ Emmie grinned despite the fact she felt like she'd just betrayed herself slightly.

"Now for jewelry!" Jada giggled.

Emmie backed away with her hands up. "No, I'm pulling the plug here. I let you pick my dress, but I'm picking the accessories. No negotiations."

Jada and Madison pouted, but agreed. Serena and Emmie were very relieved when they finally left the store. Madison called Jamie and he came to help carry the bags to the bus station where they saw Madison and Serena off. Afterwards, Emmie gave her partner a break and carried the bags home herself and had him go home.

"Goodnight!" Jada said as she disappeared into her room for the night. Emmie just waved, to busy focusing on her text book. She hadn't been sleeping well at night lately, so she'd decided to be productive at least. Course, history was no more interesting than it had ever been. Within a few minutes she'd unconsciously gone to bed, not even realizing she'd lain down. She was just that tired.

No nightmares appeared that night; the black blood was busy with its own thoughts. It could feel a power, a dark power, approaching the city; organizing itself into position for attack. The blood didn't feel threatened though; it could tell this power was here to help it grow stronger. It also faintly recognized the power, like the power was an old friend…

**I'm full of jitters about the next chapter! Dresses! I love writing about dresses! I hope you're all as curious as i am! See you next time!**


End file.
